Would the 'victim' have to testify?

Question

If a man is charged with the felony 'driving across state lines to have sex with a minor' would the minor have to testify against him in court if they had already been questioned by the feds?? I'm wondering if they would just use the statements in order to hide the identity of the 'victim' or would they have to go to court. Thanks.

Answer 1

Partially it's a matter of evidentiary burden, and partially it's a matter of trial strategy.

As a matter of law, the prosecutor would need to establish the fact of the minor's age, and that the defendant had sex with the minor.

Other than an admission by the defendant, or a direct witness to one or more of those facts, the only way to get those facts into evidence would be the testimony of the victim. And 6th Amendment prohibits the victim's testimony from being admitted unless the victim is subject to cross-examination.

Answer 2

The victim will have to testify in the vast majority of cases. This is because of the Hearsay Rule. Most of the statements issued by the victim are not admissible unless the victim is legally unavailable. Nothing you have stated here suggests the victim is unavailable under the Hearsay definition of Unavailable. So yes, the victim would probably have to testify. I'd say there's a 99% chance that the victim would have to.