Juvenile Officer v. R.O. (In re Z.N.O.)

566 S.W.3d 609
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 18, 2018
DocketWD 81365
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 566 S.W.3d 609 (Juvenile Officer v. R.O. (In re Z.N.O.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Juvenile Officer v. R.O. (In re Z.N.O.), 566 S.W.3d 609 (Mo. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

Anthony Rex Gabbert, Judge

R.O., Father, appeals the circuit court's judgment finding Father neglected his two-year-old daughter,1 Child, by exposing Child to domestic violence and failing to protect Child's four-year-old half-sibling (Sibling) from physical abuse perpetrated by Child's mother. Father asserts three points of court error. First, he contends the circuit court erred in sustaining Count 2 of the Juvenile Officer's petition alleging Child was in need of care and subject to the court's jurisdiction because it refused to consider evidence that Child was not in need of care and treatment at the time of the adjudication hearing. Second, he contends there was insufficient evidence to prove Father abused or neglected Child. Third, he contends the circuit court erred in finding reasonable efforts were made to prevent Child's removal from Father's custody because the court's order lacks specificity and fails to outline its reasoning to support change of custody. We affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

The evidence, in the light most favorable to the circuit court's judgment, was that Sibling was born to Father and D.R. on February 16, 2013. When the Juvenile Officer's petition was filed in 2017, Father and D.R. shared joint custody of Sibling; Father had parenting time with Sibling in his home every other weekend. Father resided with his girlfriend, Child's Mother. Child was born to Father and Child's Mother on April 13, 2015. Father, Child's Mother, and Child were all present at various times when Sibling visited their home.

In March 2017, pediatric nurse practitioner, Amanda Divine,2 examined Sibling for his four-year check-up. During that examination Divine observed scars on Sibling's penis and left ear. Sibling told Divine that Child's Mother, "cut my pee-pee with tweezers. I don't know why her did it. I was sleeping." He also told Divine that Child's mother, "fired me with her lighter. I hid under my [blanket]," "Her makes mad faces at me," and "Her throwed me and I splitted my ear." Because Divine suspected child abuse due to the scars and Sibling's statements, she reported the matter for further investigation.

Dr. Emily Killough,3 a child abuse pediatrician at Children's Mercy Hospital, examined Sibling on March 29, 2017. Killough testified that Sibling had previously been seen in Children's Mercy's Safety, Care & Neglect unit (SCAN Clinic) in March 2014 for bruising and abrasions after returning from Father's care. He was one year old. In October/November of that *612same year (age one and a half) Sibling was seen at the SCAN Clinic for an oblique fracture of the right proximal tibia (shin bone), and a buckle fracture of the base of the first metatarsal on the right foot. Symptoms related to the injuries began while Sibling was in Father's care. Sibling was placed into foster care at that time for suspected child abuse by an unknown perpetrator. The record is unclear as to when Sibling was returned to parental custody.

In October/November 2016 (age two and a half), Sibling was seen at the SCAN Clinic for bruising and abrasions on his face, neck, and buttocks. Sibling reported being slapped and spanked by Child's Mother. Sibling was diagnosed with physical abuse.

Sibling was seen in the emergency room at Children's Mercy Hospital in January 2017 for an ear injury requiring eleven stitches. Sibling was in the care of Child's Mother when the injury occurred. At that time, Sibling stated that the injury was the result of falling off a scooter and hitting his ear on a table.

Dr. Killough testified that, during her examination of Sibling she observed the scar on his ear and asked him what happened. He responded, "[Child's Mother] threw me and broke my ear." Killough testified that the nature of Sibling's ear injury was highly indicative of child abuse. Killough also observed the scar on Sibling's penis. Sibling told her, "[Child's mother] hurt me with tweezers," and made a pinching motion with his finger and thumb. Killough testified that the injury Sibling sustained was consistent with his description of the cause. When asked on cross-examination if the prior history of Sibling's multiple injuries influenced her diagnosis regarding Sibling's present injuries, Killough testified, "It definitely I think is more influence on my sort of ongoing safety concerns." When asked if Killough had any information that Father was aware of the injury to Sibling's penis, she testified she did not know, but would assume a three-year-old would have needed help going to the bathroom, wiping, bathing or showering.

Kristin Kunard, a forensic interviewer with The Child Protection Center, testified as to interviews conducted with Sibling in April 2017.4 Sibling reported to Kunard that Child's Mother "cut his pee-pee with tweezers," "threw him on the floor and broke his ear," and "burned him with a lighter." Sibling reported that Child's Mother put him outside and put tape on his mouth. Sibling told Kunard regarding the tweezer incident, "My daddy just comed [sic]," "Like, daddy just talked to [Child's Mother]." With regard to the lighter incident, Sibling told Kunard that Father was in another car. Sibling expressed to Kunard that he witnessed Child's Mother throw a frying pan at Father, breaking Father's nose. When asked if Sibling had anyone he could confide in if someone hurt him, he said he could talk to "mommy."

Sibling's biological mother, D.R., testified at trial.5 D.R. testified that in 2016, Sibling told her he was watching a cartoon and Child's Mother smacked him across the face leaving a hand-sized bruise. D.R. took Sibling to Children's Mercy and also asked Father about the incident. Father told D.R. that Child's Mother was in the bathroom doing her makeup. Father could see everything in the small duplex apartment and Child's Mother had not hit Sibling across the face. D.R. testified she *613believed Father may not have seen the incident, but also believed Father was "covering for [Child's Mother] because he's scared to death of her[.]" D.R. testified that every weekend Sibling was at Father's home, Sibling would come home with a different injury. Once he had a bald spot shaved in the back of his head down to his scalp; Father and Child's Mother had no explanation. Sibling would regularly be returned to D.R. with "random" bruises in atypical areas, such as on the back of his legs and bottom.

D.R. testified that Sibling told her about witnessing Child's Mother throw a pan at Father's face, breaking his nose and giving him two black eyes. Sibling told D.R. he was scared of Child's Mother. He told D.R. that Father and Child's Mother fought a lot and that Sibling would hide under the kitchen table. Sibling told D.R. that Sibling's sister was scared as well. D.R. testified that she did not believe the children in Father's home were protected as D.R. would get calls every time Sibling was there and D.R. could hear screaming and fighting in the background.

D.R. testified that in late December or early January 2017, she noticed a cut on Sibling's penis while bathing Sibling. Sibling told D.R. Child's Mother cut him with tweezers. D.R. immediately called Father and asked if he knew anything about this. D.R. put Father on speakerphone and had Sibling talk to him. Father said Sibling had come into his room crying one night, but Father did not know why. D.R.

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Bluebook (online)
566 S.W.3d 609, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/juvenile-officer-v-ro-in-re-zno-moctapp-2018.