(1) For the purposes of this section, "child abuse" means child abuse as defined in section 18-6-401 (1).
No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for an act of child abuse other thanthe misdemeanor offenses specified in section 18-6-401 (7)(a)(V), (7)(a)(VI), and (7)(b), unless the indictment, information, complaint, or action for the same is found or instituted within ten years after commission of the offense. No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for the misdemeanor offenses specified in section 18-6-401 (7)(a)(V), (7)(a)(VI), and (7)(b), unless the indictment, information, complaint, or action for the same is found or instituted within five years after the commission of the offense.
An out-of-court statement made by a child, as "child" is defined under the statutesthat are the subject of the action, describing any act of child abuse to which the child declarant was subjected or that the child declarant witnessed, and that is not otherwise admissible by a statute or court rule that provides an exception to the hearsay objection, may be admissible pursuant to section 13-25-129 (3).
All cases involving the commission of an act of child abuse shall take precedencebefore the court; the court shall hear these cases as soon as possible after they are filed.
The statutory privilege between the victim-patient and his physician and between thehusband and the wife shall not be available for excluding or refusing testimony in any prosecution of an act of child abuse.
Source: L. 85: Entire section added, p. 673, § 3, effective June 7. L. 2019: (3) amended, (SB 19-071), ch. 42, p. 146, § 3, effective July 1.
Cross references: For provisions concerning sex offenses against children that are similar to the provisions of this section, see § 18-3-411; for the physician-patient and husbandwife privileges, see § 13-90-107.