Kern County Welfare Department v. Suzan L.

*1050 Opinion

Procedural Background

On May 23, 1985, respondent Kern County Welfare Department (Department) became aware that 11-year-old Wendy A. and 6-year-old Melissa S. may have been molested by their stepfather, John L. Melissa was promptly taken into protective custody, but Wendy was not. A few days later Wendy retracted her charge of molestation. On May 28, the Department filed three petitions in the Kern County Juvenile Court alleging that Melissa, Wendy and their 14-year-old sister, Ellena A., were minors coming within the provisions of Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivisions (a) and (d). 1 On the following day the court ordered that Wendy be taken into protective custody.

According to the allegations of the petition, the minors’ home was unfit because both Melissa and Wendy had been molested by their stepfather and their mother failed to protect the minors although she knew of the molestation. While no allegations of molestation were made regarding Ellena, her home was deemed unfit because of the molestation of her sisters and the mother’s failure to protect her daughters.

Initial hearings were held on all three petitions on May 29. The juvenile…