In Re Jessica C.

I. Introduction

This is an unusual dependency case in which there are appeals from opposite sides. Remberto, the father of five children with his now estranged wife, Kimberly, appeals from an order adjudicating him to have committed sexual abuse on his eldest daughter. Specifically, he was found to have fondled her breasts and asked her to take pictures of him nude. The five children, by contrast, appeal from the same order, because the trial court found untrue other allegations of sexual abuse, including an allegation that Remberto had actual sexual intercourse with the eldest daughter.

The two appeals raise several disparate issues, but one central problem predominates: the nature of the pleadings in juvenile dependency cases. As we explain below, the findings that emerge in the wake of juvenile dependency petitions must be construed in terms of their actual substance; variations between what was alleged and what was proved at the hearing are governed by the established civil law concerning amendments according to proof. Accordingly, we affirm the order adjudicating the children to be within subdivision (d) of section 300 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, but…