L. A. Cnty. Dep't of Children & Family Servs. v. Blanca G. (In re Eddy G.)

In re EDDY G. et al., Persons Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. BLANCA G. et al., Defendants and Appellants.

B314641

California Court of Appeals, Second District, Seventh Division

May 11, 2022

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

APPEAL from orders of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, No 18CCJP03048A-B, Mary E. Kelly, Judge. Affirmed.

Shaylah Padgett-Weibel, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant Blanca G Cristina Gabrielidis, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant Armando G.

Rodrigo A. Castro-Silva, County Counsel, Kim Nemoy, Assistant County Counsel, and William D. Thetford, Principal Deputy County Counsel for Plaintiff and Respondent.

SEGAL J.

INTRODUCTION

Blanca G. and Armando G., the parents of Eddy G. and Valentina G., challenge visitation orders the juvenile court issued under Welfare and Institutions Code section 362.4, subdivision (a), when the court terminated jurisdiction.^[1]Armando argues the court abused its discretion in requiring monitored visitation with his children; Blanca argues the court abused its discretion in prohibiting her from serving as the monitor for Armando's visits. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Armando Sexually Abuses Valentina and Hits Eddy with a Belt

On May 3, 2018, when Valentina was four years old, she told Blanca she no longer wanted to be alone with Armando "because he touches her vagina and buttocks area with his fingers." Valentina begged Blanca not to drop her off at Armando's workplace because she was afraid. When Blanca saw Valentina's eyes "began to get watery as if she was scared of" Armando, Blanca took her to the doctor. After examining Valentina, the doctor contacted the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. The Department conducted an initial investigation and concluded Valentina "was very detailed" when she identified the areas of her genitalia Armando touched. Valentina told a nurse who examined her that Armando placed his hand inside her underwear, that "it hurt" when Armando touched her, and that her body felt "bad." Valentina repeated her account of the abuse in a separate interview with a police officer the same day.

Valentina's 11-year-old brother, Eddy, told a social worker that Armando recently hit him with a belt "a few times," leaving a four-inch purple bruise, after Eddy failed to clean up a mess. Eddy estimated that Armando disciplined him by hitting him with a belt on approximately 50 different occasions and stated that Blanca told him not to tell anyone about his bruise "or else they will call the cops." The Department filed a petition under section 300, subdivisions (a), (b), (d), and (j), alleging that Armando sexually abused Valentina and physically abused Eddy and that Blanca failed to protect the children from Armando's abuse. The Department alleged that Armando struck Eddy multiple times with a belt and that, while Armando was alone with Valentina on two occasions, he fondled her vagina and buttocks. The court detained the children from Armando, released them to Blanca, and ordered monitored visitation for Armando.

B. The Court Asserts Jurisdiction, Removes the Children from Armando, Places Them with Blanca, and Orders Monitored Visitation for Armando

After the detention hearing, Eddy recanted his statement Armando hit him with a belt, explaining Armando slapped him with his hand "'enough times to make it hurt like with a belt.'"

Blanca denied that Valentina told her Armando had sexually abused her, stated that she did not believe Armando "did this," and denied that Armando ever hit Eddy. Armando denied that he sexually abused Valentina or that he hit Eddy with a belt. On August 1, 2018 the court sustained the following counts, as amended: under section 300, subdivision (b), that Armando inappropriately disciplined Eddy and that Blanca failed to protect Eddy; under section 300, subdivisions (b) and (d), that Armando sexually abused Valentina; and under section 300, subdivision (j), that Armando placed Eddy and Valentina at risk of harm based on his conduct toward the other sibling.^[2] The juvenile court declared Eddy and Valentina dependent children of the court, removed them from Armando, and placed them with Blanca under the supervision of the Department.

The court ordered Armando to participate in sexual abuse and individual counseling and granted him monitored visitation; the court ordered Blanca to complete parenting classes and awareness of sexual abuse counseling and prohibited her from monitoring Armando's visits.^[3] C. After Three Years of Supervision, the Court Terminates Jurisdiction, Grants Blanca Sole Legal and Physical Custody, and Orders Armando's Visitation To Remain Monitored

Over the course of almost three years, the juvenile court held six review hearings under section 364.^[4] For the first three hearings, the Department reported that, while Valentina continued to tell her therapist the sexual abuse occurred, Armando continued to deny it occurred. At each of these hearings, the court found continued jurisdiction was necessary because conditions justifying jurisdiction still existed. The court acknowledged that Blanca and Armando were making progress in their respective programs, but observed that Armando was still "in denial about what occurred" (first review hearing), "continue[d] to not take acceptance for what happened" (second review hearing), and refused "to accept responsibility for what the court found true" (third review hearing).

At the fourth, pandemic-delayed review hearing on February 17, 2021 the juvenile court denied the Department's request to terminate jurisdiction and grant Blanca sole legal and physical custody with monitored visitation for Armando. The court stated that, because Blanca and the children wanted Armando to move back into the home, granting the Department's request would "set the family up for this whole thing to happen all over again." The court instead ordered the Department to identify any additional services Armando should receive. The court also ordered Blanca and Armando to participate in a child and family team meeting (CFT) to formulate a safety plan with the Department.^[5]

At the CFT meeting on March 15, 2021 the social workers shared with Blanca and Armando the Department's concern that Armando continued to deny the abuse occurred. Blanca responded that, although she believed Valentina, she was "not sure 'it' happened." Blanca explained that "there were many different versions of what Valentina initially reported," that "there was never a full investigation," and that the physician "wasn't sure what happened either." Armando continued to deny that he ever abused Valentina and asserted that "this all happened when Valentina was a baby and she was just giving the doctors the answers they wanted." Armando claimed that the Department and the courts were "corrupt" and that they tried to make him look like an abuser, which he denied. The Department subsequently reported that "a safety plan was unable to be drawn up, given the [parents'] recent statements during the CFT [meeting] and ongoing denial of the abuse."

At the fifth review hearing on May 17, 2021 the juvenile court decided it would allow Blanca to monitor Armando's visits with Valentina for a three-month trial period. The court stated it was making this decision because Armando had completed all of his programs, Blanca said she could protect the children, and Eddy was "very bonded to his father." The court gave the Department the authority to make unannounced visits in the home.

At the final review hearing on August 16, 2021, the court terminated jurisdiction, granted Blanca sole legal and physical custody of the children, and ordered Armando's visitation to remain monitored. The court stated: "The court is very concerned about the fact that [Armando] continues to deny what occurred because, as we know, one who continues to-one cannot fix a problem one does not acknowledge one has. . . . This does serious, serious harm to a child, and were this to reoccur again, it would be devastating. And because [Armando] does not acknowledge [the abuse], even though he has completed all of his programs, the court does not believe it's appropriate to grant the unmonitored visits for [Armando] or to allow [him] to return to the home." The court cited its prior credibility findings that Armando's denial he hit Eddy was "not true" and that Valentina, who "was very clear about what happened to her" and "expressed fears staying home with [Armando] when [Blanca] goes to school," was credible.

The Department asked the juvenile court not to allow Blanca to monitor Armando's visits because, as recently as March 2021, Blanca disputed the allegations the court had sustained, and therefore would not be able to protect the children should Armando return to the home. The court agreed and stated that, because Blanca "is recanting the statements that were made by" Valentina, and because Blanca told Eddy not to tell anyone about Armando hitting him, "in retrospect" the court's decision to allow Blanca to monitor Armando's visits "was probably inappropriate." The court explained "those monitored visits went okay with [Blanca] monitoring them" because the court had been supervising the case. The court expressed concern about what would happen if, without court supervision, Blanca had to go to the store and needed to leave the children alone with Armando. The court issued a custody and visitation order reflecting these rulings. Blanca and Armando each timely appealed.

DISCUSSION

Armando and Blanca challenge the juvenile court's visitation...