Clayton v. Wilson

183 P.3d 292, 2008 WL 1777983
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedApril 21, 2008
Docket57891-0-I
StatusPublished

This text of 183 P.3d 292 (Clayton v. Wilson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Clayton v. Wilson, 183 P.3d 292, 2008 WL 1777983 (Wash. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

183 P.3d 292 (2008)

Andrew James CLAYTON, Respondent,
v.
Mary Kay WILSON, Appellant, and
Douglas Mecklem Wilson, Defendant.

No. 57891-0-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

April 21, 2008.

*294 James D. Hailey, Attorney at Law, Kathryn Goater, Schroeter Goldmark Bender, Seattle, WA, for Respondent.

Dennis John McGlothin, Olympic Law Group PLLP, Seattle, WA, for Appellant.

BECKER, J.

¶ 1 Over a period of years, Douglas Wilson sexually abused a neighbor boy who was doing yard work on property belonging to the Wilson marital community. A civil lawsuit resulted in a judgment against the marital community as well as against Mr. Wilson separately, but not before Mr. Wilson had agreed to a divorce settlement with his wife whereby she received almost all the community assets. Because Mr. Wilson used his position as manager of the community property to obtain access to his victim, the trial court did not err in imposing liability on the community. After rightly concluding the property settlement agreement was a fraudulent transfer, the trial court appropriately protected the plaintiff's ability to collect the judgment by voiding the transfer and enjoining the Wilsons from disposing of the assets. We affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2 According to findings entered by the trial court after a bench trial, appellant Mary Kay Wilson had been married to her husband Douglas Wilson for 37 years when she found out that he had been sexually molesting a young neighbor boy named Andrew Clayton. Andrew and his family moved into a rental home owned by the Wilsons when Andrew was eight years old. When Andrew was between nine and ten years old, Mr. Wilson began sexually assaulting him. He began by giving Andrew back rubs over his clothing after Andrew had performed yard work. These backrubs gradually progressed to fondling, masturbation, and fellatio.

¶ 3 The sexual assaults occurred on more than 40 separate occasions, ending when Andrew was 15 years old and his family moved away. The assaults occurred in conjunction with Andrew's employment doing yard work for the Wilsons. After Andrew would complete his assigned yard work, Mr. Wilson would take him inside, sexually assault him, and then pay him for the yard work.

¶ 4 Andrew did not tell anyone about the molestation until he was 18 years old. His disclosure led to the arrest of Mr. Wilson on December 7, 2002. Mr. Wilson admitted to police that he had sexually assaulted Andrew for several years. When Mrs. Wilson came to visit her husband while he was in jail, he told her there were other victims besides Andrew.

¶ 5 Mr. Wilson was released from custody on December 9, 2002. Mrs. Wilson contacted a divorce attorney on December 10. Mr. Wilson agreed that his wife would get all of their assets. The Wilsons met with the attorney on December 11 to discuss dissolving the marriage and dividing the property. Working through the weekend, the attorney prepared a property agreement dividing the property as directed by the Wilsons. Under the terms of the agreement, Mrs. Wilson would receive $1,639,501, representing about 90.5 percent of the property. Mrs. Wilson signed the property settlement agreement on *295 December 19 and Mr. Wilson signed on December 20. Their divorce became final in March 2003.

¶ 6 The State charged Mr. Wilson with child molestation and rape of a child. He pled guilty as charged on November 5, 2003 and was sentenced to 130 months in prison.

¶ 7 Andrew filed this civil lawsuit on June 17, 2004. After a bench trial, the court concluded that both Mr. Wilson and the marital community were liable to Andrew for the sexual abuse perpetrated by Mr. Wilson. The court awarded Andrew $1,200,000 in damages for emotional distress, $200,000 for future lost wages, $4,024.50 for past medical expenses, and $14,200 for future medical expenses, for a total of approximately $1.4 million. On February 23, 2006, the court entered judgment for Andrew in the total of those amounts as a joint and several obligation of Mr. Wilson and the marital community. The court enjoined the Wilsons from further disposing of any property that had formerly been community property without court approval, pending an accounting to identify any separate funds of Mr. Clayton available to satisfy the judgment

¶ 8 The court also concluded that the transfer of property from husband to wife that occurred by means of the property settlement agreement was fraudulent. The Wilsons had not sustained their burden of proving that the transfer was made in good faith and Mr. Wilson did not receive reasonably equivalent value in exchange for the assets. The court imposed the statutory remedy of voiding the transfer and enjoined the Wilsons from disposing or encumbering any former community property distributed by their agreement unless approved by the court.

¶ 9 Mrs. Wilson appeals.

COMMUNITY LIABILITY

¶ 10 Mrs. Wilson contends the court erred in holding the marital community liable for the sexual assaults. A key question is whether the trial court properly characterized the sexual molestation as an act done in the course of managing community business.

¶ 11 The trial court's determination of this issue rested on its finding that the sexual assaults occurred in the course of Andrew doing yard work for the Wilsons:

Douglas Wilson committed the sexual assaults of Andrew Clayton in the course of managing the community property of the Wilsons. Mr. Wilson gained access to Andrew by first employing him to do yard work on the property owned by the Wilsons. Andrew was molested after performing his assignments. Andrew testified that every time he was molested the sexual assault was preceded by doing yard work for which he was paid, be it on the Kenmore, Monroe, or Seabeck property. The court finds Andrew's testimony credible, and finds Mr. Wilson's testimony denying the molestation incidents always followed the performance of yard work to be not credible. Andrew was paid with community funds, and the work he did benefited the community. His job included yard work on the rental properties, from which the community received income. Mrs. Wilson knew that Andrew was employed to do yard work on the community property and was being paid with community assets. Mrs. Wilson participated in supervising the minor males who did yard work on the Wilson's property. She also was the chief manager of the family's finances including the community's rental property business.[[1]]

¶ 12 Generally, an appellate court reviews a trial court's findings to determine if the findings are supported by substantial evidence. Nichols Hills Bank v. McCool, 104 Wash.2d 78, 82, 701 P.2d 1114 (1985). There is substantial evidence to support the finding that each time the abuse occurred, it was after Andrew had been doing yard work for the Wilsons and before he was paid. The issue raised by Mrs. Wilson is whether under these circumstances it is correct to say that Mr. Wilson committed the sexual assaults in the course of managing the community property. This is a legal issue that we will review de novo.

*296 ¶ 13 The trial court relied on LaFramboise v. Schmidt, 42 Wash.2d 198, 254 P.2d 485 (1953). Mrs. Wilson contends LaFramboise is not applicable and that the assaults on Andrew were intentional torts committed by her husband for which he alone is liable. We conclude LaFramboise,

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Bluebook (online)
183 P.3d 292, 2008 WL 1777983, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clayton-v-wilson-washctapp-2008.