A Study On The Evidence Review And Judgment Of Cases Of Indecent Child Molestation

In recent years,cases of child molestation have been frequent,and the "one-on-one" evidence pattern is relatively common.It presents the characteristics of insufficient evidence quantity,lack of relevant physical evidence,and difficulty in verifying the authenticity of victim and witness statements.In practice,the judicial authorities do not attach enough importance to the examination and judgment of the defendant’s testimony and character evidence;In terms of reviewing and judging the statements of victims,it is not based on the age of the victim to determine whether their statements have evidentiary qualifications,but rather on the verification and reinforcement of other evidence on the victim’s statements;In the examination and judgment of witness testimony,the testimony of the victim’s parents and other relatives is crucial evidence,and the testimony of the victim’s parents and other relatives is generally not excluded on the grounds of having an interest.Overall,the relevant evidence rules that can be applied to the examination and judgment of evidence in cases of child molestation include: relevance rules in the evidence qualification rules,witness qualification rules,opinion evidence rules,hearsay evidence rules,evidence exclusion rules,special person’s words evidence proof rules,reinforcement evidence rules,and relevant provisions on proof standards.However,relying solely on existing evidence rules cannot solve all the problems of evidence review and judgment in cases of child molestation.The norms and practical issues of evidence review and judgment in child molestation urgently need to be addressed.Firstly,due to the relatively crude provisions of evidence rules,there are many shortcomings in legislation: China has not established systematic basic rules for related evidence,nor has it established rules for character evidence.There is a lack of special provisions for the qualification of child victims to state evidence,and the scope of victim statements and their supplementary evidence that should be strengthened is unclear.Secondly,the examination and judgment of evidence in cases of child molestation face many practical difficulties: the difficulty of examining the authenticity of the victim’s statement is relatively high,the testimony of witnesses is mostly indirect evidence with insufficient probative power,and the relative shortage of evidence leads to the frequent occurrence of the defendant’s "zero confession" phenomenon,making it difficult to grasp the proof standard of "excluding reasonable suspicion".In response to the above issues,it is necessary to improve the rules for evidence review and judgment in cases of child molestation: first,establish basic rules for evidence correlation.It is necessary to clarify the concept of evidence correlation and the scope of materials that are not related to the facts to be proven;Secondly,establish character evidence review and judgment rules for cases of child molestation.The premise is to exhaust other evidence,and when the defendant’s previous similar behavior is presented as character evidence,it is necessary to prove similarity,conduct a comprehensive review of character evidence,and make a cautious judgment;Thirdly,special provisions should be added to the eligibility of child victims to present evidence.The age of child victims should not be used as a reason to deny their eligibility to state evidence,but the minimum age limit for victim statements should be lifted;Fourthly,clarify the victim statements that should be reinforced and the scope of evidence to be reinforced.And for the judicial difficulties that arise in practice,corresponding solutions are also needed:when reviewing the victim’s statement,attention should be paid to the core content of the victim’s statement,whether the victim has the motivation and possibility of false accusation or framing,and whether the victim’s statement conforms to their age group’s understanding and expression ability;When reviewing the testimony of witnesses,attention should be paid to whether the testimony of witnesses can prove that "the incident occurred naturally",the victim’s demeanor when making the first statement to others,and other details;When the defendant refuses to plead guilty in cases of child molestation,it is necessary to strengthen the examination of objective evidence,defendant’s testimony,and indirect evidence;Accurately grasp the application of the proof standard of "excluding reasonable suspicion" in the case of child molestation.