In re N.D. CA2/3

I. Facts

In 2013, the juvenile court sustained allegations that N.D. was endangered by her mother’s conduct. The court gave father sole custody of N.D. On September 15, 2023, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) received a referral indicating that father “whooped” N.D. on the buttocks with a belt. N.D. was 16 years old at the time. N.D. told mother about the incident and mother picked her up from school. Mother then contacted law enforcement. N.D. told Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputies that father spanked her with a belt two times on September 13 because he was upset that a friend gave her a ride home from school. She said father also spanked her with a belt, including the belt buckle, eight or 10 times in July of 2022 after learning that she had a Snapchat account. N.D. reported that it was “common” for father to hit her with a belt, but she also said the two specific instances she described were “the only notable occurrences.” The deputies took N.D. to a hospital for a medical evaluation. She reported pain and had a green and yellow, six-

2 by-five centimeter bruise on her right buttock, which was diagnosed as a hip contusion.…