Dogs may continue to comfort child victims during Summit County court proceedings, according to a Wednesday appellate court ruling.
The “facility dogs,” provided by the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office, have been helping children since August 2013.
On Wednesday, the 9th District Court of Appeals ruled for the second time in a year that the office may continue to provide the dogs to child victims in courtrooms. In the case, convicted child rapist Brian Hasenyager alleged the dog’s presence with the victim on the witness stand made the jury more likely to trust her testimony.
Prosecutors argued the dog, named Avery, provided the 13-year-old girl with support while she testified to strangers in the courtroom about what Hasenyager did to her when she was 11 years old.
The appeals court agreed with prosecutors and upheld Hasenyager’s 20-year-to-life prison sentence.
“Using Avery ensures victims, especially children, are not victimized a second time and allows them to testify more easily,” County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh said in a news release. “I am pleased to know that for a second time, the Ohio 9th District Court of Appeals ruled that Avery can assist these victims.”
The appeals court made a similar ruling in October 2015.