In Re: H.R.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 24, 2020
Docket221 EDA 2019
StatusUnpublished

This text of In Re: H.R. (In Re: H.R.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re: H.R., (Pa. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

J-S48004-19

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

IN RE: H.R. : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : APPEAL OF: H.R. : : : : : : No. 221 EDA 2019

Appeal from the Order Entered January 8, 2019 In the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County Civil Division at No(s): CP-48-CV-2017-10986

BEFORE: BOWES, J., SHOGAN, J., and STRASSBURGER, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY BOWES, J.: FILED JULY 24, 2020

H.R. appeals from the order that granted a one-year extension of the

Northampton County Office of the Solicitor’s request for involuntary

commitment under the Court-Ordered Involuntary Treatment of Certain

Sexually Violent Persons statute (“Act 21”).1 We affirm.

____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

1 Act 21 directs a juvenile court to order involuntary inpatient treatment for a sexually violent delinquent child (“SVDC”) if it finds, “by clear and convincing evidence[,] that the person has a mental abnormality or personality disorder which results in serious difficulty in controlling sexually violent behavior that makes the person likely to engage in an act of sexual violence.” 42 Pa.C.S. § 6403(d). Once entered, the order is reviewed annually and may extend indefinitely, as long as the person continues to meet the criteria for involuntary inpatient treatment. See 42 Pa.C.S. § 6404. Upon release from involuntary inpatient treatment, the individual must successfully complete one year of involuntary outpatient treatment in order to comply with Act 21’s treatment requirements. See 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 6404.1, 6404.2. J-S48004-19

On September 20, 2010, a juvenile court adjudicated then-thirteen-

year-old Appellant delinquent for committing acts that would constitute an

indecent assault of a complainant less than thirteen years of age if committed

by an adult. The court imposed juvenile probation and ordered Appellant to

undergo inpatient treatment at a sex offender residential treatment facility.

Appellant remained in treatment and, when he turned twenty, was

assessed by the Sexual Offender Assessment Board (“SOAB” or “Board”) to

determine whether involuntary residential treatment was still necessary. The

Board provided its assessment to the juvenile court, which then held a

preliminary Act 21 hearing. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court found

that a prima facie case had been presented, establishing the need for ongoing

inpatient treatment. On December 7, 2017, the Northampton County

Solicitor’s designee filed a petition for involuntary treatment and Appellant’s

counsel filed a motion to dismiss.

Following the December 19, 2017 Act 21 hearing, the court denied the

motion to dismiss and granted the petition for involuntary treatment,

determining that Appellant met the requirements for a SVDC. As a result, the

court committed Appellant to one year of mental health treatment at Torrance

State Hospital. On January 8, 2018, Appellant filed an appeal to this Court,

challenging the constitutionality of the procedure, in general and as applied to

him, for determining whether an individual is an SVDC. In a unanimous

opinion, we affirmed the lower court’s order, explaining that the relevant

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provisions of Act 21 were not punitive in either intent or effect. In re H.R.,

196 A.3d 1059, 1063-65 (Pa.Super. 2018) (“H.R. I”).

Appellant filed a petition for allowance of appeal in the Supreme Court,

which granted review of the following question: “Is Act 21 punitive, such that

its retroactive application to [Appellant] and its mechanism for determining

whether an individual is a[n SVDC] are unconstitutional under [Muniz2 and

Butler I]?”3

While the appeal was pending in our Supreme Court, Stacie Barnes,

Psy.D., the clinical director of the Pennsylvania sexual responsibility and

treatment program at Torrance, interviewed Appellant on October 11, 2018

and October 12, 2018 in order to prepare a ten-month comprehensive facility

2 Commonwealth v. Muniz, 164 A.3d 1189 (Pa. 2017) (holding that the registration requirements of Pennsylvania’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”) constitute criminal punishment, such that their retroactive application violates the ex post facto clauses of the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions); Commonwealth v. Butler, 173 A.3d 1212, 1217-18 (Pa.Super. 2017) (“Butler I”) (applying Muniz to the Sexually Violent Predator (“SVP”) assessments and finding that because the SORNA registration requirements are punitive, a factual finding, such as whether a defendant has a mental abnormality that makes him likely to engage in predatory sexually violent offenses, must be found beyond a reasonable doubt).

3 On April 1, 2020, our Supreme Court issued its decision affirming our Court’s decision in H.R. I. See In re H.R., 227 A.3d 316, 324 (Pa. 2020) (“H.R. II”). In doing so, our court held that Act 21 does not constitute criminal punishment and that Act 21’s mechanism of adjudicating SVDC by clear and convincing evidence remains constitutionally sound. Id. at 335. We discuss the holding in H.R. II in more detail in the body of this memorandum.

-3- J-S48004-19

review of Appellant’s progress, pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. 6404(b)(1).4 Dr.

Barnes submitted her report to the court on October 19, 2018. On October

24, 2018, SOAB board member Veronique Valliere, Psy.D. filed her Act 21

sexual offender assessment of Appellant. Both reports were presented to the

court and a review hearing was scheduled to determine whether Appellant

would need to be recommitted for an additional one-year term of involuntary

treatment. On December 11, 2018, Appellant filed a habeas corpus petition

based upon this Court’s ephemeral holding in In re J.C., 1391 WDA 2017

(Pa.Super. 2017) (withdrawn on February 15, 2019).

On December 12, 2018, the juvenile court held an Act 21 review

hearing. The county presented the testimony of Dr. Valliere, who opined that

Appellant met the criteria for civil commitment under Act 21 because he

struggles to control his sexually violent behavior due to his diagnoses for

exhibitionistic disorder, frotteuristic disorder,5 and antisocial personality

disorder. N.T. Act 21 Review Hearing, 12/12/18 at 4, 15-16. Dr. Valliere did

not interview Appellant, so her assessment was based upon her review of Dr.

Barnes’s ten-month § 6404(b)(1) facility report, Appellant’s treatment records

4 “Sixty days prior to the expiration of the one-year commitment period, the director of the facility or a designee shall submit an evaluation and the board shall submit an assessment of the person to the court.” 42 Pa.C.S. § 6404(b)(1).

5 Frotteuristic disorder involves “the act of touching or rubbing one’s genitals up against another person in a sexual manner without their consent, in order to derive sexual pleasure or reach orgasm.” https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/frotteuristic-disorder

-4- J-S48004-19

for the last year, and the November 2018 assessment. Id. at 6, 42. Appellant

testified on his own behalf, explaining that he had shown growth by graduating

from level 2.1. to 2.2 of the treatment program.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the court requested that the parties

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Related

Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez
372 U.S. 144 (Supreme Court, 1963)
Commonwealth v. Muniz, J., Aplt.
164 A.3d 1189 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2017)
Commonwealth v. Butler
173 A.3d 1212 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2017)
In re: H.R., a minor
196 A.3d 1059 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2018)
In the Interest of J.M.
5 A.3d 323 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2010)
In the Interest of S.T.S., Jr.
76 A.3d 24 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2013)

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Bluebook (online)
In Re: H.R., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-hr-pasuperct-2020.