The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 15C : Parentage Proceedings

Chapter 006 : Genetic Parentage

• § 616. Precluding establishment of parentage by perpetrator of sexual assault

  (a) In a proceeding in which a person is alleged to have committed a sexual assault that resulted in the birth of a child, the person giving birth may seek to preclude the establishment of the other person’s parentage.

  (b) This section shall not apply if the person alleged to have committed a sexual assault has previously been adjudicated to be a parent of the child.

  (c) In a parentage proceeding, the person giving birth may file a pleading making an allegation under subsection (a) of this section at any time.

  (d) The standard of proof that a child was conceived as a result of the person sexually assaulting the person who gave birth to the child may be proven by the petitioner by either of the following:

  (1) clear and convincing evidence that the person was convicted of a sexual assault against the person giving birth and that the child was conceived as a result of the sexual assault; or

  (2) clear and convincing evidence that the person sexually assaulted or sexually exploited the person who gave birth to the child and that the child was conceived as a result of the sexual assault or sexual exploitation, regardless of whether criminal charges were brought against the person.

  (e) If the court finds that the burden of proof under subsection (d) of this section is met, the court shall enter an order:

  (1) adjudicating that the person alleged to have committed a sexual assault is not a parent of the child;

  (2) requiring that the Department of Health amend the birth certificate to delete the name of the person precluded as a parent; and

  (3) requiring that the person alleged to have committed a sexual assault pay child support or birth-related costs, or both, unless the person giving birth requests otherwise. (Added 2017, No. 162 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)