A three-year-old-male minor was properly removed from guardian following guardian’s sexual abuse of older female grandchildren. Grandfather, a guardian to the three-year-old minor, Ricky, appealed the jurisdictional and dispositional orders removing the minor from his care. Grandfather contended that his sexual abuse of his stepgranddaughters, ages 12 and 9, was insufficient to show that Ricky was at risk of harm in his care. The appellate court disagreed and affirmed. Grandfather’s conviction for sexual abuse of the stepgranddaughters gave rise to a presumption that Ricky was at risk, and the presumption was not rebutted. Further, grandfather abused the granddaughter while he was working as a vendor in a mall, so the juvenile court could reasonably conclude that he might abuse a child in Ricky’s presence. This court agreed with a line of cases which hold that sexual abuse of a child by a parent places the victim’s male and female siblings who remain in the home at risk, rejecting the notion that male children are not at risk in the care of an individual who has committed sex offenses against female children.
Case Summaries