In Re A.C.
- Reporters:
- Before:
- Colleen Conway Cooney, Mary Eileen Kilbane, Melody J. Stewart
I
{¶ 2} Because the father‘s sole assignment of error relates only to the adjudicatory finding relating to neglect and abuse, we consider only those facts adduced at the adjudicatory hearing. This appeal pertains to the second agency complaint involving mother G.T.‘s six children. The mother‘s former husband fathered two girls and one boy. The appellant-father is the natural parent of two boys (W.B. and C.B.) and one girl (N.B.). In the first complaint, the agency alleged that the children had been neglected and abused because the parents had been
{¶ 3} The agency refiled the complaint, alleging that the children had been sexually abused by a cousin who had been residing in the mother‘s house; that the mother knew about the sexual abuse but did not report it; and that after the cousin had stopped residing in her house, she and the children moved into the same house where the cousin subsequently moved. Paragraphs 6 and 7 of the complaint alleged that the father had (1) demonstrated a lack of commitment toward the children by his failure to provide care or support for the children, and his failure to visit or communicate with the children when able to do so and (2) engaged in acts of verbal and domestic violence with the mother and that those acts placed the children at risk of serious physical and emotional harm.
{¶ 4} An agency intake worker was the sole witness at the adjudicatory hearing. She said that the agency received a referral through its KIDS hotline that “the girls” had been sexually abused by a cousin who temporarily lived with them and that the mother and father knew about the sexual abuse but did not stop it. The
{¶ 5} At the conclusion of the adjudicatory hearing, the court stated that “I agree that this certainly is not the strongest case that‘s ever been presented and in fact I wonder why the Department couldn‘t have done a little better job if there were such horrific acts occurring.” The court concluded, however, that there was clear and convincing evidence to show that the children were abused and neglected. The court found that the allegations made against the father in paragraphs 6 and 7 of the complaint “have not been proven” and dismissed those counts.
{¶ 6} After a dispositional hearing, the court granted the agency permanent custody of the children, finding that the parents had failed to remedy the problems
II
{¶ 7} The father‘s sole assignment of error is that the court abused its discretion by finding that his three children, W.B., C.B., and N.B. were abused and neglected. He claims that there was no evidence that any of his children were sexually abused, nor were there any allegations in the complaint that support a finding that he abused or neglected them.
A
{¶ 8} Hearings involving the termination of parental rights are bifurcated into separate adjudicatory and dispositional phases. See
{¶ 9}
{¶ 10} “[
{¶ 11} Determinations made during the adjudicatory phase must be supported by clear and convincing evidence.
B
{¶ 12} As applicable to this appeal,
{¶ 13} “(A) Is the victim of `sexual activity’ as defined under Chapter 2907 of the Revised Code, where such activity would constitute an offense under that chapter, except that the court need not find that any person has been convicted of the offense in order to find that the child is an abused child;
{¶ 14} “(B) Is endangered as defined in section
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{¶ 15} The social worker did not name or mention W.B. or C.B. in her testimony. There is no evidence of any kind to show that these two children were the victims of sexual activity.
{¶ 16} The agency offered some testimony regarding N.B. and sexual activity, but it did not rise to the level of clear and convincing evidence to support the court‘s finding that N.B. had been abused. During questioning about circumstances that occurred after the mother moved the children in with her sister, the intake worker was asked “did sex abuse come to your attention, any incident of sex abuse, after the children came to Cleveland [to live with the mother‘s sister] * * *?” The intake worker answered, “[t]here was an incident between Mom and the youngest child, [N.B.].” The questioning on this point ended after this answer. We conclude that this testimony does not rise to the level of clear and convincing evidence that N.B. had been sexually abused for purposes of
{¶ 17} In another part of her testimony, the intake worker again mentioned N.B. by name when referencing a conversation she had with N.B. However, when the
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{¶ 18} We do conclude, however, that the agency presented clear and convincing evidence to show that the children were placed at a substantial risk of harm such that the parents would have endangered the children under
{¶ 19} When a parent knows that a child is being sexually assaulted by another member of the household, but fails to remove either the child or the perpetrator from the household, that parent has created a substantial risk to the safety of the child. See State v. Wardlow (1985), 20 Ohio App.3d 1, 3-4. The parents knowingly permitted a sexual abuser to remain in the household, even though he had abused their children with devasting effect to the family unit. This fact alone could justify a
{¶ 20} The father‘s role in causing the problem was undisputed. Testimony showed he not only knew the abuse had occurred, but when he “threw” the mother and children out of the house, they had no other option but to go to the mother‘s sister‘s house, where the abusive cousin lived. The father‘s actions demonstrated a callous disregard for the health and safety of the children.
C
{¶ 21} As applicable to this appeal,
{¶ 22} Although the agency presented no evidence to show that the three children at issue were sexually abused, it did present evidence to show that other members of the household were sexually abused by the cousin and that the parents knew about it but did nothing to stop it. Despite knowing that the cousin had abused her children, the mother moved her children into a residence in which the cousin also resided. The court heard testimony that the father had been home when the abuse occurred. Finally, testimony showed that the mother told the father not to report the abuse to the police in order to prevent the agency‘s intervention.
{¶ 23} A parent who not only actively fails to report acts of sexual abuse committed against her children by a known perpetrator, but then voluntarily moves
{¶ 24} We conclude that the court did not err by finding that W.B., C.B., and N.B. were neglected. The assignment of error is overruled.
Judgment affirmed.
It is ordered that appellee recover of appellant its costs herein taxed.
The court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this court directing the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas — Juvenile Court Division to carry this judgment into execution.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
COLLEEN CONWAY COONEY, P.J., and MARY EILEEN KILBANE, J., CONCUR.