State v. Espinoza-Valenzuela, 203 N.C. App. 485 (Apr. 20, 2010)

In a child sexual abuse case, evidence of the defendant’s prior violence towards the victims’ mother, with whom he lived, was relevant to show why the victims were afraid to report the sexual abuse and to refute the defendant’s assertion that the victims’ mother was pressuring the victims to make allegations in order to get the defendant out of the house. Evidence that the victims’ mother had been sexually abused as a child was relevant to explain why she delayed notifying authorities after the victims told her about the abuse and to rebut the defendant’s assertion that the victims were lying because their mother did not immediately report their allegations.

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