Whenever any child has been convicted as delinquent, has been adjudicated a member of a family with service needs or has signed a statement of responsibility admitting to having committed a delinquent act, and has subsequently been discharged from the supervision of the Superior Court or from the custody of the Department of Children and Families or from the care of any other institution or agency to whom the child has been committed by the court, such child, or the child’s parent or guardian, may file a petition with the Superior Court. If such court finds (1) (A) that at least two years or, in the case of a child convicted as delinquent for the commission of a serious juvenile offense, four years have elapsed from the date of such discharge, (B) that no subsequent juvenile proceeding or adult criminal proceeding is pending against such child, (C) that such child has not been convicted of a delinquent act that would constitute a felony or misdemeanor if committed by an adult during such two-year or four-year period, (D) that such child has not been convicted as an adult of a felony or misdemeanor during such two-year or four-year period, and (E) that such child has reached eighteen years of age, or (2) that such child has a criminal record as a result of being a victim of conduct by another person that constitutes a violation of section 53a-192a or a criminal violation of 18 USC Chapter 77, the court shall order all police and court records pertaining to such child to be erased. Upon the entry of such an erasure order, all references including arrest, complaint, referrals, petitions, reports and orders, shall be removed from all agency, official and institutional files, and a finding of delinquency or that the child was a member of a family with service needs shall be deemed never to have occurred. The persons in charge of such records shall not disclose to any person information pertaining to the record so erased, except that the fact of such erasure may be substantiated where, in the opinion of the court, it is in the best interests of such child to do so. No child who has been the subject of such an erasure order shall be deemed to have been arrested ab initio, within the meaning of the general statutes, with respect to proceedings so erased. Copies of the erasure order shall be sent to all persons, agencies, officials or institutions known to have information pertaining to the delinquency or family with service needs proceedings affecting such child. Whenever a child is dismissed as not delinquent or as not being a member of a family with service needs, all police and court records pertaining to such charge shall be ordered erased immediately, without the filing of a petition. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the court from granting a petition to erase a child’s records on a showing of good cause, after a hearing, before the time when such records could be erased.

Cited. 206 C. 346; 214 Conn. 454; 229 Conn. 691; 237 Conn. 364. Cited. 1 Conn.App. 584; 21 Conn.App. 654.