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Case No. MISSING

Regular Panel Decision

Oct 25, 1995

In re Nassau County Department of Social Services

The father appealed an order of disposition from the Family Court, Nassau County, which found he had sexually abused his daughter Laura C., awarded sole custody to the mother, and prohibited contact until the daughter turns 18 or the father completes therapy. The appellate court affirmed the order of disposition, finding that the Family Court's determination of sexual abuse was supported by a preponderance of the evidence. The child's out-of-court statements identifying her father as the abuser were sufficiently corroborated by reenactments with dolls. The father failed to provide satisfactory evidence to rebut the petitioner's case, and the appellate court accorded great weight to the hearing court's credibility findings.

Child Protective ProceedingSexual AbuseChild CustodyFamily LawAppealSufficiency of EvidenceCorroboration of Child's StatementsCredibility FindingsTherapy RequirementVisitation Restriction

References

Case No. No. 1, No. 2

Regular Panel Decision

In re Jessica DD.

This case involves appeals from two Family Court orders. In the first proceeding (No. 1), the Family Court found that the stepfather sexually abused his stepdaughter. In the second proceeding (No. 2), it found the mother neglected her daughter. The primary issue on appeal was whether the four-year-old victim's out-of-court statements were sufficiently corroborated as required by Family Court Act § 1046 (a) (vi). The appellate court found that a licensed clinical social worker, Rosalyn Syp, provided ample corroboration for the sexual abuse finding through doll reenactment and observed behavioral patterns in the victim. Consequently, the Family Court's finding of sexual abuse against the stepfather was affirmed. However, the appellate court determined there was insufficient corroboration for the neglect finding against the mother, as no correlation was established between the victim's statements to her mother and the stepfather's departures. Therefore, the neglect finding against the mother was reversed and the petition dismissed.

Child AbuseChild NeglectSexual AbuseFamily Court Act Article 10Out-of-Court StatementsCorroborationExpert TestimonyLicensed Clinical Social WorkerDoll ReenactmentBehavioral Patterns

References

Case No. N-4317/92

Regular Panel Decision

In re Oneida Q.

In a child protective proceeding, the father appealed three dispositional orders from June 9, 1993, and fact-finding orders from February 22, 1993, which found Racielli C. to be an abused and neglected child, and Arodi C. and Hanameel C. to be neglected children. The mother, Oneida Q., appealed a dispositional order from June 9, 1993, which found her to have neglected Racielli C. The appellate court reversed the fact-finding order against Oneida Q. concerning the neglect of Racielli C. and dismissed that part of the petition. However, the court affirmed the dispositional orders against the father, finding that the determination of sexual abuse against his daughter Racielli C. was supported by a preponderance of the evidence, including the child's out-of-court statements corroborated by reenactment with dolls. The court concluded that the petitioner failed to prove the mother's neglect of Racielli C. by a preponderance of the evidence, as there was no indication she knew or should have known of imminent danger.

Child protective servicesChild abuseChild neglectSexual abuseFamily Court Act Article 10Appellate reviewSufficiency of evidencePreponderance of evidenceOut-of-court statementsCorroboration

References

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In re Nassau County Department of Social Services

Child Protective ProceedingSexual AbuseChild CustodyFamily LawAppealSufficiency of EvidenceCorroboration of Child's StatementsCredibility FindingsTherapy RequirementVisitation Restriction

In re Jessica DD.

Child AbuseChild NeglectSexual AbuseFamily Court Act Article 10Out-of-Court StatementsCorroborationExpert TestimonyLicensed Clinical Social WorkerDoll ReenactmentBehavioral Patterns

In re Oneida Q.

Child protective servicesChild abuseChild neglectSexual abuseFamily Court Act Article 10Appellate reviewSufficiency of evidencePreponderance of evidenceOut-of-court statementsCorroboration