In re Int. of X.P.

248 A.3d 1274

In the INT. OF: X.P., a Minor

Appeal of: K.J.P., Mother

No. 1106 MDA 2020

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted February 2, 2021

Filed March 30, 2021

Colin R. Hueston, Philadelphia, for appellant.

Carmen J. Bloom, Reading, for Berks County Children and Youth Services, appellee.

Barbara H. Berringer, Reading, for Guardian Ad Litem, appellee.

BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., KUNSELMAN, J., and MURRAY, J.

OPINION BY MURRAY, J.:

K.J.P. (Mother) appeals from the amended order of adjudication and disposition with respect to her teenage son, X.P. (Child), which found Mother recklessly caused serious mental injury to Child.¹ Upon careful review, we affirm.

The trial court summarized the procedural background as follows:

Commencing in May of 2019, and throughout much of 2019, Berks County Children and Youth Services ("BCCYS") investigated reports that Mother was emotionally abusive toward Child and his half-sibling twin sisters.^{[2 ]} On November 20, 2019, a Dependency Petition was filed by BCCYS alleging that Child and his twin sisters ... were without proper parental care and control, and delineating the numerous reports of mental abuse by Mother against Child which were investigated.

Trial Court Opinion, 9/25/20, at 1.

Prior to the dependency hearing, on December 22, 2019, Mother participated in a psychiatric evaluation with Maria Ruiza Yee, M.D. Amended Dependency Petition, 1/17/20, at ¶ 31. On January 6, 2020, Child, then 16 years old, participated in an emotional abuse evaluation with Allison Hill, Ph.D., a licensed psychiatrist. Id. at ¶ 33; Trial Court Opinion 9/25/20, at 4.

As a result of those evaluations, on January 17, 2020, BCCYS filed an amended dependency petition. BCCYS alleged "Mother is a perpetrator of child abuse in accordance with 23 Pa.C.S. § 6303, in that Child is an abused child. ... Child has suffered a serious mental injury due to Mother's knowing, intentional, or reckless actions." Id. at ¶ 34.

A hearing commenced on January 30, 2020, and continued on April 8, 2020. The court explained:

At this hearing, Dr. Allison Hill, an expert in the field of mental health and emotional abuse evaluations, testified about her evaluation of Child. In addition, Child himself testified. At the conclusion of the hearing, this [c]ourt found by clear and convincing evidence that Child is a dependent child. Temporary legal and physical custody was transferred to BCCYS for placement purposes.^[3] Child's siblings were also adjudicated dependent, with legal and physical custody remaining with Mother.

An additional hearing was held on April 8, 2020 on the issue of child abuse. The testimony of Dr. Ruiza Yee, who had performed a psychiatric evaluation of Mother, was taken at that time as well as the testimony of Mother and two BCCYS caseworkers. In an Amended Order of Adjudication and Disposition dated July 28, 2020,^[4] this [c]ourt found, by clear and convincing evidence, that Child had sustained "serious mental injury" as defined by 23 Pa.C.S. § 6303(b.1). This [c]ourt further found that Mother is a [p]erpetrator of abuse within the meaning of 23 Pa.C.S. § 6303(a) and 18 Pa.C.S. § 302. This appeal followed on August 27, 2020.

Trial Court Opinion, 9/25/20, at 1-2.

On appeal, Mother presents a single issue:

Did the trial court abuse its discretion and commit an error of law by finding that [M]other recklessly caused serious mental injury to [C]hild where the record does not contain clear and convincing evidence that [M]other caused serious mental injury or that she acted recklessly?

Mother's Brief at 7.⁵

It is well settled that our standard of review in dependency cases "requires an appellate court to accept the findings of fact and credibility determinations of the trial court if they are supported by the record, but does not require the appellate court to accept the lower court's inferences or conclusions of law. Accordingly, we review for an abuse of discretion." In the interest of A.C. , 237 A.3d 553, 557 (Pa. Super. 2020) (citations omitted). "The trial court is free to believe all, part, or none of the evidence presented and is likewise free to make all credibility determinations and resolve conflicts in the evidence." In re M.G. , 855 A.2d 68, 73-74 (Pa. Super. 2004) (citation omitted).

While dependency proceedings are governed by the Juvenile Act, 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 6301 - 6375, the Child Protective Services Law (CPSL), 23 Pa.C.S. §§ 6301 - 6387, pertains to a court's finding of "child abuse," which must be supported by clear and convincing evidence. In the Interest of J.R.W. , 428 Pa.Super. 597, 631 A.2d 1019 (1993). Our Supreme Court explained in In re L.Z. , 631 Pa. 343, 111 A.3d 1164, 1176 (2015), that as "part of [a] dependency adjudication, a court may find a parent to be the perpetrator of child abuse," as defined by the CPSL.

The relevant statute provides:

(b.1) Child abuse .— The term "child abuse" shall mean intentionally, knowingly or recklessly doing any of the following:

...

(3) Causing or substantially contributing to serious mental injury to a child through any act or failure to act or a series of such acts or failures to act.

...

23 Pa.C.S. § 6303(b.1)(3). "Serious mental injury" is defined as follows:

A psychological condition, as diagnosed by a physician or licensed psychologist, including the refusal of appropriate treatment, that:

(1) renders a child chronically and severely anxious, agitated, depressed, socially withdrawn, psychotic or in reasonable fear that the child's life or safety is threatened; or

(2) seriously interferes with a child's ability to accomplish age-appropriate developmental and social tasks.

23 Pa.C.S. § 6303(a) ("Serious mental injury").

For purposes of the CPSL, the terms "intentionally," "knowingly," and "recklessly" have the same meaning as set forth in 18 Pa.C.S. § 302. 23 Pa.C.S. § 6303(a). Section 302 of the Crimes Code provides:

§ 302. General requirements of culpability.

...

b) Kinds of culpability defined.

(1) A person acts intentionally with respect to a material element of an offense when:

(i) if the element involves the nature of his conduct or a result thereof, it is his conscious object to engage in conduct of that nature or to cause such a result; and

(ii) if the element involves the attendant circumstances, he is aware of the existence of such circumstances or he believes or hopes that they exist.

(2) A person acts knowingly with respect to a material element of an offense when:

(i) if the element involves the nature of his conduct or the attendant circumstances, he is aware that his conduct is of that nature or that such circumstances exist; and

(ii) if the element involves a result of his conduct, he is aware that it is practically certain that his conduct will cause such a result.

(3) A person acts recklessly with respect to a material element of an offense when he consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that, considering the nature and intent of the actor's conduct and the circumstances known to him, its disregard involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the actor's situation.

18 Pa.C.S. § 302(b)(1)-(3).

Here, the court found that Mother recklessly caused serious mental injury to Child. Mother does not dispute that Child sustained serious mental injury; however, she argues she did not cause Child's injury and did not act recklessly.

We begin with the court's factual findings, upon which it concluded that Child sustained serious mental injury. With respect to Child's testimony, the court commented at length:

At the hearing held on January 30, 2020, Child, who was then 16 years of age,^{[6 ]} bravely testified in the presence of Mother to a series of acts and failures to act by Mother, including physical harm, which occurred over a period of years. He recalled that when he was about 10 years old, he was hit with belts, and that approximately 7 months before the hearing, Mother had thrown hard, plastic lotion bottles and "hair stuff" at him, and then told him to clean it up. (N.T. 1/30/20 at p. 36.) In addition, when he was approximately 10 years old, Mother had punched him in the nose and made him hold a bag over it as he bled. (N.T. 1/30/20 at p. 37.)

Further, once during 2018, when Mother, Child, and Child's twin sisters were all in the car together and Child's sisters were arguing, Mother threatened to crash the car and kill all of them. This scared him. (N.T. 1/30/20 at p. 41.) In addition, Mother once told Child that she would have him arrested and that he would "not ... be somewhere to not let it happen." (N.T. 1/30/20 at p. 43.) In the fall of 2018, Mother attempted suicide by taking pills in front of Child and his sisters; she blamed Child and told him that it was his fault.^[7] (N.T. 1/30/20 at pp. 7-9.) ... [T]he Child "really didn't go to sleep because [he] was always worried about what was going to happen and what was going to happen the next day and stuff like that." (N.T. 1/30/20 at p. 42.) As a result, he usually did not fall asleep until approximately 1:00 a.m. Id.

... [Mother] did not celebrate Child's sixteenth birthday in November of 2019. Id. There was no cake and there were no presents for Child's sixteenth birthday, and Mother did not even wish him a happy birthday. (N.T. 1/30/20 at p. 39.) This made Child "feel pretty sad." Id.^[8] Mother called Child names such as "dumb," "retarded," and "pussy"; these were the names that he was called repeatedly. (N.T. 1/30/20 at p. 45.)

There were times when Mother and Child's siblings would come home with food for themselves, and there would be nothing in the home for Child to eat. Child would then call his aunt, and "she would sneak over food for [him] a lot of the times." (N.T. 1/30/20 at pp. 40, 60-61.) When Child was punished, he was not allowed to go outside or go to a friend's house. This once happened for over two months. (N.T. 1/30/20 at

...