In re A.E. CA4/1

INTRODUCTION

Q.E. (Father) appeals from the juvenile court’s jurisdictional order

under Welfare and Institutions Code1 section 300, subdivision (a), which resulted in the removal of six-year-old A.E. from his custody and exit orders granting full legal and physical custody to C.M. (Mother). Father contends insufficient evidence supports the court’s finding he inflicted the injuries described in the dependency petition, and that there was no substantial risk of future harm to A.E. Pointing to inconsistencies in A.E.’s statements and other evidence, Father argues someone else inflicted the injuries while A.E.

was in Mother’s custody. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. Dependency Petition and Detention A.E. was born in August 2017. Father entered his life two years later following the entry of a paternity judgment in 2019. A.E. then spent four nights per week with Father at paternal grandparents’ home and three nights per week with Mother and his maternal half-brother at Mother’s home. Relevant here, A.E. was in Father’s custody from Friday afternoon,

April 28, 20233 until Father dropped him off at school on Tuesday morning,

All further statutory references…