Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services v. Robert I.

*1156 Opinion

The juvenile court found the minor, three-year-old Dorothy I., to be a dependent child of the court under Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivisions (a) and (d). Dorothy was removed from the custody of appellant, her father, and placed with her stepmother, Joanne I.

The original petition filed with the juvenile court alleged that appellant had sexually molested Dorothy and another child, appellant’s step-granddaughter. Subsequently, a filed amended petition added a second count alleging appellant had molested Diane G., Dorothy’s half-sister, at the age of nine or ten. Diane G. was an adult at the time of the amendment. On the day of the trial counsel for the County of Los Angeles dismissed count I and proceeded to trial on the allegations of count II which were used to prove the requirements of section 300, subdivisions (a) and (d).

At the conclusion of trial, the court amended the petition to conform to proof, sustained the further amended petition, and made additional findings of fact.

The court found that:

Following three further hearings the court made its disposition order declaring the minor to be a dependent of the court and placing her in…