In re E.P. CA4/3

FACTS

In early May 2025, the minor was taken into protective custody by the Anaheim Police Department after a neighbor found him hiding under stairs with observable bruises on his face and arms, as well as some cuts on his legs. The neighbor conveyed the then 13-year-old said his aunt and uncle, with whom he was living, had been physically abusing him, withholding food,

1 All further statutory references are to the Welfare and

Institutions Code.

2 and tying him to a bed so he could not leave. It was determined the minor needed to be medically cleared, so officers transported him to a hospital where the Orange County Social Services Agency (SSA) later made contact with him. Although SSA initially thought the aunt and uncle were the minor’s legal guardians, it determined within the next couple of days that mother had only given the aunt a limited power of attorney regarding the minor. I.

DETENTION REPORT

Among other matters, SSA’s detention report detailed interviews it conducted on the day the minor was taken into protective custody and the two days thereafter, information about a 2015 juvenile dependency proceeding involving the minor and his sister, and details of prior…