This bill will protect child abuse victims. And Tri-City officials helped make it happen

A bill aimed at preventing recordings of child abuse victim interviews from falling into the wrong hands has been signed into law — and Tri-City officials helped make it happen.

Benton County Prosecutor Andy Miller and JoDee Garretson of Support, Advocacy & Resource Center were among those who helped craft the legislation, which got Gov. Jay Inslee’s signature Thursday.

The bill says that recordings of child forensic interviews are exempt from public disclosure unless a court order is obtained. Those kinds of interviews are conducted by professionals as part of investigations into abuse, neglect and exposure to violence.

The bill also says that when the recordings are used in a court case, strict procedures must be followed, including that they not be copied or reproduced except as a written transcript that doesn’t reveal the child’s identity, and that they be returned at the end of the case.

The videos are effective in trial, but they’re sensitive and “we didn’t want people getting ahold of them and putting them up online to bully these victims or get some sick pleasure (from them),” Miller said.

He’s not aware of a case where that’s happened yet, but “we think if we didn’t take steps, it was only a matter of time,” said the prosecutor, who was in Olympia for the bill signing.

Miller’s office already viewed the interview recordings as exempt from public disclosure, but that wasn’t necessarily the case everywhere else in the state.

A coalition of child advocates and prosecutors worked on the bill, including officials from Children’s Advocacy Centers of Washington and the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.

This story was originally published March 24, 2018 at 2:22 PM with the headline "This bill will protect child abuse victims. And Tri-City officials helped make it happen."