In re C.A. Children

Citations

• 2020 Ohio 5243

Syllabus

CHILDREN – CUSTODY – EVIDENCE: The juvenile court did not err by admitting statements made by a 13-year-old child victim to a social worker at the Mayerson Center under Evid.R. 803(4) as statements for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment where the social worker used open-ended, nonleading, and \non-bias\ questions in conducting such interviews, the social worker impressed upon the child the need to tell the truth, the child's responses were age-appropriate and consistent, and father's assertion that the child had a motive to lie given his recent discipline of the child omitted that he had physically injured the child in disciplining her. The juvenile court's finding that a 13-year-old child and her two siblings were dependent under R.C. 2151.04(C) was supported by clear and convincing evidence: father had sexually and physically abused the child for several years and mother failed to adequately protect her, and her siblings had witnessed some of the sexual and physical abuse. The juvenile court's finding that a 13-year-old child was abused under R.C. 2151.031 was supported by clear and convincing evidence: father engaged in sexual activity with the child for years, and, due to sexual and physical abuse by father, the child was an endangered child as defined in R.C. 2919.22 and the child exhibited physical or mental injury that that threatened to harm her health and welfare. The juvenile court's finding that a 13-year-old child was neglected under R.C. 2151.03(A)(2) because she lacked adequate parental care due to the faults or habits of her parents was supported by clear and convincing evidence where father sexually and physically abused the child and mother failed to adequately protect the child when the child disclosed the abuse.