ANTHONY v. STATE (1999)

Defendant was tried before a jury and convicted of two counts of child molestation.   This appeal followed the denial of his motion for new trial.   Held:

 1. The 13-year-old victim (15 years old at the time of trial) testified that defendant committed acts which constitute the crimes charged.   This evidence is sufficient to authorize the jury's finding that defendant is guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt, of two counts of child molestation.   Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560.   And while aspects of the victim's testimony may appear to vary, these matters were for the jury to consider-not this Court.  Howard v. State, 227 Ga.App. 5, 8 (6)(a), 488 S.E.2d 489.   See Berry v. State, 268 Ga. 437(1), 438, 490 S.E.2d 389.

The trial court did not err in denying defendant's motion for new trial.

 2. Defendant contends the trial court erred in admitting evidence of the victim's out-of-court statement concerning the acts which constitute the crimes charged, arguing that this statement was not admissible under the child hearsay statute, OCGA § 24-3-16, because the trial court did not consider the statement's reliability under the test set out in Gregg v. State, 201 Ga.App. 238, 240(3)(b), 411 S.E.2d 65.   This argument is without merit.

Gregg v. State, supra, does not prescribe a fixed test for weighing a statement's reliability for admission into evidence under OCGA § 24-3-16.   The victim's trial testimony in the case sub judice was sufficient under Sosebee v. State, 257 Ga. 298, 357 S.E.2d 562, to afford the trial court an opportunity to weigh the indicia of reliability-a finding which is implicit under the trial court's admission of the victim's out-of-court statement.   Letlow v. State, 222 Ga.App. 339, 343(3), 474 S.E.2d 211;  Roberson v. State, 214 Ga.App. 208, 210(5), 447 S.E.2d 640.

The trial court did not err in admitting evidence of the victim's out-of-court statement concerning the acts which constitute the crimes charged.

Judgment affirmed.

McMURRAY, Presiding Judge.

JOHNSON, C.J., and PHIPPS, J., concur.