Dependency Law Finder

Florida's dependency statutes, court rules and DCF operating procedures, with the appellate opinions that apply them

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L.C. v. Department of Children & Family Services848 So. 2d 433 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003) · 2D02-341

Court
2nd DCA
Decided
2003-07-02
Case
Dependency
Appellant
Father

Affirmed in part, reversed in part Dependency of the three sons reversed for lack of proof of risk from alleged abuse of their sister; the daughter's adjudication affirmed on credibility.

Issue
Dependency adjudication: sufficiency of evidence
Facts
Sexual abuse

Summary, issues, facts, outcome, and appellant were extracted automatically from the opinion. Check the opinion itself before relying on them.

On CourtListener
NORTHCUTT, Judge.

In these consolidated appeals, L.C. challenges dependency adjudications of his four children, three sons and one daughter, based solely on his daughter’s allegation that he sexually abused her.

There was insufficient evidence to support the boys’ dependency based on an alleged risk of future harm by the father. As the Florida Supreme Court held in In re M.F., 770 So.2d 1189, 1194 (Fla.2000):

A simple showing by DCF that a parent committed a sex act on one child does not by itself constitute proof that the parent poses a substantial risk of imminent abuse or neglect to the child’s sibling, as required by the statute. While the commission of such an act may be highly relevant, it is not automatically dispositive of the issue of dependency. A court instead should focus on all the circumstances surrounding the petition in each case.

Here, the dependency petition did not allege, nor did the Department prove, any circumstances that placed the sons at risk. We therefore reverse the adjudication of dependency as to the three sons.

L.C. also challenges his daughter’s dependency, contending that evidence of her ulterior motive to fabricate renders the *434evidence insufficient. While we may have reservations about the truthfulness of the girl’s allegations, we cannot question the trial court’s assessment of her credibility because it was in a superior position to evaluate her testimony. Accordingly, we affirm the dependency adjudication of the daughter.

Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings.

ALTENBERND, C.J., and CASANUEVA, J., concur.

Opinion text: CourtListener, Free Law Project. Not an official reporter; check the court's version before citing.