(KNSI) – For the first time in Minnesota, a judge allowed a dog to be by the side of a young victim as she took the witness stand at trial to confront the man who sexually assaulted her.
The Stearns County Attorney’s Office’s facility dog, Nova, kept the victim company while she testified earlier this year. The golden retriever joined the department in 2019 after Helping Paws in Hopkins trained her for two-and-a-half years.
According to the attorney’s office, Nova and her handler, Keli Trautman, have assisted many victims and witnesses in preparation for trial, but this was the first time Nova was allowed to appear with the victim during trial.
Judge Laura Moehrle ruled that testifying in court can be traumatic for children and affect their ability to testify accurately and that facility dogs have been found to reduce stress and trauma, aiding in the ability of the person to offer truthful testimony.
Fifteen other states have already allowed the use of facility dogs.
As a result of the trial, 37-year-old Jairo Missael Fernandez Sorto was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Thursday on three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The victim, now 14, was eight when the abuse started.
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