In Re AH

751 N.E.2d 690, 2001 WL 755797
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 2, 2001
Docket03A01-0011-JV-403
StatusPublished

This text of 751 N.E.2d 690 (In Re AH) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re AH, 751 N.E.2d 690, 2001 WL 755797 (Ind. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

751 N.E.2d 690 (2001)

In the Matter of A.H., A Child Alleged to be in Need of Services,
A.H., Richard Halberstadt and Diane Halberstadt, Appellants-Respondents,
v.
The Bartholomew County Office of Family and Children, Appellee-Petitioner.

No. 03A01-0011-JV-403.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

June 4, 2001.
Publication Ordered July 2, 2001.

*692 David E. Dearing, Indianapolis, IN, Jeffrey L. Beck, Beck Harrison & Dalmbert, Columbus, IN, Jennifer Auger, Jones Hoffman & Admire, Franklin, IN, Attorneys for Appellants.

Stanley A. Gamso, Lawson Pushor Mote & Gamso, Columbus, IN, Attorney for Appellee.

*691 OPINION

SHARPNACK, Chief Judge.

Richard Halberstadt ("Father"), Diane Halberstadt ("Mother"), and A.H. (collectively, *693 "the Halberstadts") appeal the juvenile court's order determining that A.H. is a child in need of services ("CHINS") and the dispositional order following that determination. On appeal, the Halberstadts raise three issues,[1] which we restate as:

1. whether sufficient evidence supports the juvenile court's determination that A.H. is a CHINS;

2. whether the juvenile court's dispositional decree is in conformance with the controlling statute; and

3. whether the juvenile court's order must be reversed because the Halberstadts' due process rights were violated when the Bartholomew County Office of Family and Children ("BCOFC") failed to provide a case plan to the Halberstadts as required by law.

We affirm.

The facts most favorable to the trial court's order follow. A.H. (age 15) has myoclonus, a medical condition that causes rhythmic contractions in her abdominal region. To control the myoclonus, A.H. was prescribed a number of medications. The doctor who treated A.H. for this condition told A.H.'s parents that they should place a hand on A.H.'s stomach, specifically her navel, after she had gone to sleep to determine whether the contractions occurred while A.H. was sleeping. Because Mother worked third shift, this testing was Father's responsibility on the nights that Mother worked. During the summer of 1999, on five or ten of the occasions when Father checked A.H.'s stomach, he rubbed A.H.'s groin area and stuck his finger in her vagina. When A.H. moved, Father jerked away and went to the bathroom to wash his hand. Then, he came back and tried it again. On another occasion, when Father came to A.H.'s room to check her stomach while she was sleeping, Father placed his hand down A.H.'s pants into her pubic hair, and when he tried to remove his hand, he got his hand caught in the string of her underpants. A.H. told Mother that Father had been touching her inappropriately. However, Mother did not believe her and told her that she was hallucinating from the myoclonus medications.

During that same summer, A.H. sleepwalked into her parents' bedroom and crawled into bed with Father. Father put his arm around A.H., put his hand down her pants, and inserted his finger in her vagina. When Father reached around and felt A.H.'s breasts, he stated that he had been asleep and mistakenly thought A.H. was Mother.

On July 17, 1999, A.H. went to a birthday party for a fourteen-year-old friend, E.M. During the birthday party, A.H. told E.M. that Father had been molesting her two or three times a week for the previous two or three months. Eventually, E.M. reported A.H.'s story to a school counselor. Evidently, the school counselor relayed E.M.'s report to the BCOFC, because a family case manager from the BCOFC, Sheryl Alyea, and an Indiana State Police Detective, Robert Bays, Jr., went to E.M.'s school and interviewed E.M. On September 2, 1999, Alyea and Detective Bays interviewed A.H. while she was staying in the hospital for treatment related to her myoclonus.

On September 7, 1999, the juvenile court held an emergency hearing. At that hearing, the judge found probable cause to *694 believe that A.H. was a CHINS. The judge ordered A.H. to be detained by the BCOFC, and A.H. was placed in foster care. After the juvenile court judge authorized the BCOFC to file a CHINS petition, the BCOFC filed a petition alleging that A.H. was a CHINS because "her father has been sexually molesting her for the past two to three months" and "her mother does not believe the child is truthful" when she reports the incidents. Record, p. 1. The BCOFC specifically alleged that these acts by A.H.'s parents resulted in A.H. meeting the requirements for three different statutory definitions of CHINS, Ind.Code §§ 31-34-1-1, 31-34-1-2, and 31-34-1-3.[2]

Following a status hearing on December 15, 1999, the juvenile court ordered that A.H. could move home to live with her mother, but that Father had to move out of the home. Father was not allowed to have contact with A.H., except for supervised visits at the BCOFC office. In addition, the court order required Mother to undergo psychological tests evaluating her fitness as a parent. At a six-month review hearing on March 1, 2000, the court ordered A.H. to stay with Mother, ordered Father to remain out of the home, and ordered that Father's visitation with A.H. could occur under the supervision of either the BCOFC or Mother's parents.

Subsequently, on July 14, 2000, at the conclusion of a four-day fact-finding hearing, the juvenile court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding the CHINS petition. The juvenile court concluded that A.H. was a CHINS under all three of the statutory definitions that the BCOFC had alleged. On October 12, 2000, the juvenile court entered a dispositional order requiring A.H. to live with Mother, while Father maintained residence elsewhere. In addition, the Halberstadts were to be evaluated at the Indianapolis Institute for Marital and Family Relations, Inc. to develop "a comprehensive plan of care, treatment and rehabilitation." Record, p. 332.

When a court's orders contain specific findings of fact and conclusions of *695 law, we engage in a two-tiered review. Hallberg v. Hendricks County Office of Family and Children, 662 N.E.2d 639, 643 (Ind.Ct.App.1996). First, we determine whether the evidence supports the findings. Id. Then, we determine whether the findings support the judgment. Id. We only reverse the trial court's judgment if it is clearly erroneous. Id. A judgment is clearly erroneous if it is unsupported by the findings and conclusions. Id. Findings of fact are "clearly erroneous when there is no substantial evidence of probative value to support the findings." In re E.M., 581 N.E.2d 948, 952 (Ind.Ct. App.1991), trans. denied. When deciding whether the findings are clearly erroneous, we consider only the evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom that support the judgment. Id. We cannot reassess the credibility of the witnesses or reweigh the evidence. Id.

I.

The first issue is whether sufficient evidence supports the juvenile court's determination that A.H. is a CHINS. When we review the sufficiency of evidence, we consider only the evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom that are most favorable to the judgment. Hallberg, 662 N.E.2d at 646.

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M.M. v. Elkhart Office of Family & Children
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A.H. v. Bartholomew County Office of Family & Children
751 N.E.2d 690 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2001)

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Bluebook (online)
751 N.E.2d 690, 2001 WL 755797, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-ah-indctapp-2001.