In re N.V. CA4/2

BACKGROUND

The latest referral, in March 2022, indicated Mother and Father resumed a

longstanding, substantial history of domestic violence, including in the presence of

Minors and their three older half-siblings. The referral suggested the violence

endangered Minors, including one occasion in which Father allegedly slammed an infant,

apparently Minor E, against a car door. It was also alleged that Father struck Mother “all

of the time in front of the children.” Contradicting the report in part, Mother told a social

worker she had not seen Father for several months, since she briefly entered a shelter and

then moved to a paternal family member’s residence with the five children.

The social worker’s follow-up inquiry showed the sheriff’s department responded

to Mother’s residence not only on the date of the initial referral in March 2022, but also

subsequently again in April and May 2022. Mother was the aggressor in the April

incident, “throwing and breaking stuff.” Father declined to press charges against Mother

at that time. Father was already subject to a no-negative-contact order, which he then

violated in the May 2022 incident, and for which he was arrested as…