In re J.K. CA4/1

BACKGROUND

A. Initiation of Dependency Proceeding On April 19, 2021, J.K. arrived at a friend’s house “disheveled” and upset. He said Mother beat him, choked him, and threatened him with a knife before he ran out of his house without shoes. He had a red mark on his neck that dissipated before law enforcement arrived. J.K. told his friend’s mother and a responding officer about Mother’s long history of hitting him, slapping his face, hitting him with a belt, and choking him. A few weeks earlier, Mother burned J.K. by pressing a hot pan on his hand during an argument. On another occasion, Mother entered the bathroom while he was bathing and pushed his head under water for several

Further undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

2 seconds. J.K. “broke down crying” while describing Mother’s current and past abuse saying he did not know why she did these things to him. J.K. said Mother also abused his sister, who was now an adult and in college. They tried to report Mother once, but nothing happened because Mother knew the responding social worker. Mother told the children no one would believe them. The Agency filed a petition on behalf of…