Galloway v. Lucas County Children Services Board

601 N.E.2d 83, 77 Ohio App. 3d 61, 1991 Ohio App. LEXIS 4182
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 6, 1991
DocketNo. L-90-197
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 601 N.E.2d 83 (Galloway v. Lucas County Children Services Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Galloway v. Lucas County Children Services Board, 601 N.E.2d 83, 77 Ohio App. 3d 61, 1991 Ohio App. LEXIS 4182 (Ohio Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

Abood, Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, which permanently terminated the parental rights of Patricia Walker, Theresa and Shane Galloway’s mother; appellant James Galloway,1 Theresa’s father and the legal custodian and alleged father of Shane; and William Gill, also an alleged father of Shane; and granted permanent custody of Theresa and Shane to appellee, the Lucas County Children Services Board. Appellant has appealed setting forth the following assignments of error:

“1. The trial court admitted hearsay testimony of the children during the adjudication phase of the trial, thus irreparably prejudicing appellant’s case.
“2. The trial court denied appellant due process of law by failing to enter judgment within seven days after the conclusion of the dispositional hearing, in violation of Juv.R. 34(C).”

The undisputed facts giving rise to this appeal are as follows. On November 21, 1988, appellee filed a complaint pursuant to R.C. 2151.03, 2151.031, and 2151.04 et seq., which alleged that Theresa (born January 18, 1983) had been sexually assaulted by appellant and requested that the trial court find her to be neglected, abused and dependent and that temporary custody of Theresa be awarded to appellee for placement and planning. On November 22, 1988, appellee filed an amended complaint to correct errors and omissions in the original complaint. On November 23, 1988, appellee filed a second amended complaint which alleged that Shane (born October 20, 1981) was also neglected, abused and dependent and requested that temporary custody of Shane be awarded to it for placement and planning. On November 21 and 22, 1988, an emergency detention hearing was held, and on December 2, 1988, a judgment entry was filed which granted appellee emergency temporary custody of Theresa and Shane pending adjudication. On February 15, 1989, a case plan was filed by appellee setting forth the ultimate goal of reunification with the parent or guardian. On May 24, 1989, an amended case plan was submitted with the ultimate goal of permanent alternative placement, excluding adoption. On September 14, 1989, an additional amended case plan was submitted with the alternate goal of reunification with the parent or guardian.

[64]*64On November 8, 1989, the adjudicatory hearing was held at which Dr. Ernesto Farrar, a pediatrician and member of the child abuse team at the Medical College of Ohio, testified that Shane had been referred to him by appellee for evaluation of possible sexual abuse and that on February 13, 1989, he had interviewed and physically examined him. Over appellant’s objection the trial court permitted Farrar to testify as to the following statements made to him by Shane:

“A. When I was talking to Shane, he said that daddy had played with his no-no part and he at that time pointed to his genital area, to his penis, which he also called his pee-pee.
“Then we were also draw — using a stick figure to identify the body parts. When we — we kept on talking and he continued to say that daddy touched it with his hand and his mouth and he added to the conversation that he put it in my butt.
“When I asked him who daddy was he identified that this was his stepfather, Jim Galloway.
“Q. All right. What, if anything, happened next in the course of your evaluation?
“A. He took the stick figure and then made an X in the area that he had been touched by — with an X in the genital area on the stick figure and identified as dad.”

Farrar testified that based upon this disclosure and the results of his physical examination of Shane, in his opinion Shane had been sexually victimized.

On December 1, 1989, an amended case plan was filed with the ultimate goal set forth as adoption of both Shane and Theresa. On January 4, 1990, appellee filed a third amended complaint seeking permanent custody of Shane and Theresa for adoptive placement and planning. That complaint stated that appellant was incarcerated and awaiting trial on multiple charges of sexual offenses against children, including Shane and Theresa; that psychological evaluations of Patricia Walker indicated extremely limited parenting ability with a poor prognosis for improvement, a need for drug screening and counseling, emotional and psychological instability, erratic visitation, and unstable housing; and that all of the relatives of the children had demonstrated unacceptable parenting ability with their own children or had already had unsatisfactory contacts with appellee. The complaint also joined as a party William Gill who claimed to be the father of Shane, stating that Gill had not established paternity or provided any support for Shane and that he had contacted appellee only once to indicate his interest in custody of Shane.

[65]*65On February 14, 1990, the adjudicatory hearing resumed at which time Patricia Walker and William Gill both stipulated to a finding that Shane and Theresa were abused children. Appellant, however, did not consent to such a finding and the adjudicatory hearing proceeded with the testimony of Debra Smith and Sue Johnson, both clinical therapists with the East Center for Community Mental Health. Smith testified that Shane, Theresa and Patricia Walker were referred to the center by appellee and that she conducted interviews with each of them jointly and individually in order to assess their emotional status and provide psychological treatment. Smith testified that she had been involved with them from February 1989 to July 1989; that her interviews began with a social history and diagnosis; and that Shane and Theresa exhibited signs of abandonment, neglect, and abuse. Smith stated that Shane demonstrated symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder as the result of sexual abuse and that Shane spoke of sexual abuse by his father and, during play therapy with anatomically correct dolls, brought up the topic of sexual abuse between him and his father and between him and his father’s friend. Smith testified that Theresa was very angry and frightened and complained from day one that she had been sexually abused by her father and a friend of her father’s and was very worried about reoccurrences. Smith indicated that the reactions she observed in Shane and Theresa were frequent and normal reactions of sexually abused children. She stated that her treatment plan for both consisted of diagnosing them as having post-traumatic stress disorder, formulating a plan of individualized treatment of play therapy for the initial period, and preparing them for group treatment for sexually abused children since that appeared to be the primary source of their conflicts.

Johnson testified that she became involved with Shane and Theresa in July 1989 when she was co-facilitating a group of sexually traumatized children of which they were a part, that she subsequently became their primary therapist and that they were still being treated. Johnson indicated that Theresa exhibited symptoms of having been sexually abused and Shane exhibited signs of abnormal sexual activity.

Also testifying at the adjudicatory hearing were Cecilie Russell and Mollie Stutz, both caseworkers employed by appellee who had been assigned to Shane and Theresa’s case. The trial court permitted both to testify, over appellant’s objections, as to Shane and Theresa’s descriptions of sexual abuse by appellant.

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Bluebook (online)
601 N.E.2d 83, 77 Ohio App. 3d 61, 1991 Ohio App. LEXIS 4182, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/galloway-v-lucas-county-children-services-board-ohioctapp-1991.