of objectivity also was indicated by the interviewer's failure to
pursue any alternative hypothesis that might contradict an assumption
of defendant's guilt, and a failure to challenge or probe seemingly
outlandish statements made by the children.
The record is replete with instances in which children were asked
blatantly leading questions that furnished information the children
themselves had not mentioned. All but five of the thirty-four
children interviewed were asked questions that indicated or strongly
suggested that perverse sexual acts had in fact occurred. Seventeen
of the children, fully one-half of the thirty-four, were asked
questions that involved [**32] references to urination, defecation,
consumption of human wastes, and oral sexual contacts. Twenty-three
of the thirty-four children were asked questions that suggested
[*315] the occurrence of nudity. In addition, many of the children,
some over the course of nearly two years leading up to trial, were
subjected to repeated, almost incessant, interrogation. Some children
were re-interviewed at the urgings of their parents.
The record of the investigative interviews discloses the use of
mild threats, cajoling, and bribing. Positive reinforcement was
given when children made inculpatory statements, whereas negative
reinforcement was expressed when children denied being abused or
made exculpatory statements.
Throughout the record, the element of "vilification" appears.
Fifteen of the thirty-four children were told, at one time or
another, that Kelly was in jail because she had done bad things to
children; the children were encouraged to keep "Kelly" in jail.
For example, they were told that the investigators "needed their
help" and that they could be "little detectives." Children were
also introduced to the police officer who had arrested defendant
and were shown the handcuffs used during her [**33] arrest; mock
police badges were given to children who cooperated.
In addition, no effort was made to avoid outside information that
could influence and affect the recollection of the children. As
noted by the Appellate Division, the children were in contact with
each other and, more likely than not, exchanged information about
the alleged abuses. 264 N.J. Super. at 629.  Seventeen of the
thirty-four children were actually told that other children had
told investigators that Kelly had done bad things to children. In
sum, the record contains numerous instances of egregious violations
of proper interview protocols.
We thus agree with the Appellate Division that the interviews of
the children were highly improper and employed coercive and unduly
suggestive methods. As a result, a substantial likelihood exists
that the children's recollection of past events was both stimulated
and materially influenced by that course of questioning. Accordingly,
we conclude that a hearing must be held to determine whether those
clearly improper interrogations so infected the ability of the
children to recall the alleged abusive events that [*316] their
pretrial statements and in-court [**34] testimony based on that
recollection are unreliable and should not be admitted into evidence.
IV
This Court has a responsibility to ensure that evidence admitted
at trial is sufficiently reliable so that it may be of use to the
finder of fact who will draw the ultimate conclusions of guilt or
innocence. That concern implicates principles of constitutional
due process. "Reliability [is] the linchpin in determining
admissibility" of evidence under a standard of fairness that is
required by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Manson v.  Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 98, 114, 97 S. Ct. 2243, 2253, 53
L. Ed. 2d 140, 154 (1977). Competent and reliable evidence remains
at the foundation of a fair trial, which seeks ultimately to
determine the truth about criminal culpability.  If crucial
inculpatory evidence is alleged to have been derived from unreliable
sources due process interests are at risk. Hurd, supra, 86 N.J. at
547.
A.
We acknowledge that although reliability assessments with respect
to the admissibility of out-of-court statements are commonplace,
e.g., [**35] Hill, supra, 121 N.J. at 150; Bethune, supra, 121 N.J.
at 137; State v. Spruell, 121 N.J. 32, 577 A.2d 821 (1990); State
v. A. Gross, 121 N.J. 1, 577 A.2d 806 (1990); D.R., supra, 109 N.J.
at 348, assessing reliability as a predicate to the admission of
in-court testimony is a somewhat extraordinary step.  Nevertheless,
it is not unprecedented. See Manson, supra, 432 U.S. 98, 97 S. Ct.
2243, 53 L. Ed. 2d 140 (authorizing hearing to determine admissibility
of in-court identification testimony because of pretrial suggestiveness);
Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368, 84 S. Ct. 1774, 12 L. Ed. 2d 908
(1964) (same); State v.  Gookins, 135 N.J. 42, 637 A.2d 1255 (1994)
(requiring pretrial taint hearing to determine admissibility of
evidence because of prior falsified police [**36] breathalyzer
[*317] reports); Hurd, supra, 86 N.J. 525 (ruling taint hearing
necessary to determine admissibility of hypnotically-recalled
in-court testimony); State v. Sugar, 84 N.J. 1, 417 A.2d 474 (1980)
(requiring taint hearing following police investigatory conduct
that led to inadmissible evidence). When faced with extraordinary
situations in which police or prosecutorial conduct has thrown the
integrity of the judicial process into question, we have not
hesitated to use the procedural protection of a pretrial hearing
to cleanse a potential prosecution from the corrupting effects of
tainted evidence. Gookins, supra, 135 N.J. at 42; Sugar, supra, 84
N.J. at 1; State v. Peterkin, 226 N.J. Super. 25, 543 A.2d 466
(App. Div.), certif. denied, 114 N.J. 295 (1988).
The determination of the reliability of pretrial statements must
take into account all relevant circumstances. In Gross, supra,
[**37] we detailed the range of factors that might bear on the
reliability of a pretrial statement.  Among those are the person
or persons to whom the statement was made; the manner and form of
interrogation; physical and mental condition of the declarant, the
use of inducements, threats or bribes; and the inherent believability
of the statement. 121 N.J. at 10.
The inquiry into the reliability of pretrial statements of children
in a child-sex-abuse case is similarly comprehensive. The Appellate
Division recognized that the assessment of the trustworthiness of
a child's statements made in the course of an investigatory interview
must touch all relevant circumstances. 264 N.J. Super. at 633. In
D.R., supra, 109 N.J. at 348, dealing with the admissibility of
statements by child-victims of sexual-abuse under the age of twelve,
the Court required a hearing to determine whether a child's statement
possesses sufficient indicia of reliability. Among the factors that
bear on that determination are: (1) the person to whom the child
made the statement; (2) whether the statement was made [**38] under
conditions likely to elicit truthfulness; (3) whether the child's
recitation exhibits unusual or above-age-level familiarity with
sex or sexual [*318] functions; (4) post-event and post-recitation
distress; (5) any physical evidence of abuse; and (6) any congruity
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