Grooming Evidence Permitted in Child Sexual Abuse Prosecution
The Tenth Circuit affirmed the conviction of a man for child sexual abuse after deciding that the trial court correctly admitted evidence of grooming behavior of predator abusers. You can read the opinion here: http://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/opinions/09/09-8079.pdf
In United States v. Batton, 2010 U.S. App. Lexis 8509, the defendant was convicted of taking a fourteen year old boy to Chicago and sexually assaulting him. The defendant appealed his conviction and complained that the trial judge should have excluded testimony from an expert about "grooming" behavior of predatory child abusers. The Tenth Circuit permitted the following testimony:
Dr. Heineke testified that sex offenders are generally not strangers to their
victims and their families but are more often than not close family members,
friends, or well-respected individuals in a community who often use their
positions to groom their victims into trusting them. He also informed the trial
court that many lay persons carry a common misconception that sex offenders are
only strangers or fit some misconceived criminal caricature.
The Court went on to explain that other courts have allowed similar testimony to explain how sexual predators develop a trusting relationship with their victims.
