Statements made by an autistic juvenile during an interview with police in which the boy sat in “arm’s reach of his mother” can be used in a sexual abuse case, a Family Court judge has ruled.

In an apparent case of first impression, Judge Susan Larabee in Manhattan (See Profile) held that Akeem Z., 12, voluntarily waived his Miranda rights before telling a detective that he had placed his penis against his 5-year-old niece’s buttocks.