Can a Child Be Made to Testify Against The Parent in a Federal Grand Jury?

Yes. A recent decision by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed that the federal courts do not recognize any “parent-child privilege” which would shield a child from testifying against his or her parent in a grand jury. This means that when a child gets a subpoena to testify in a criminal case involving the parent, neither the child not the parent can assert a privilege which would prevent the child from testifying. In other words, anything that a parent tells a child, the child can be forced to testify about that in court.