Contra Costa County Social Services Department v. Gerald K.

By amended notice of appeal appellant Gerald K. seeks review of (1) an order sustaining jurisdictional findings concerning his son, Alexander (Sasha) K., bom September 6, 1984; and (2) a dispositional order prohibiting visitation and contact between father and son except as agreed upon by their respective therapists.

I. Background

A. Pre-Petition Events

During a six-month period in 1985, appellant assaulted his wife, Ana C., five times. He grabbed her neck and choked her. Sasha screamed and appellant would hold him, saying the mother was too upset. The couple *552 separated in October of that year when Sasha was 13 months old. Appellant was Sasha’s primary caretaker the first year of his life.

Sasha lived with his mother after the separation; visitation was by informal arrangement, and there were some overnights. A more formal schedule was worked out with a mediator from family court services. Appellant lived in Kansas from about March 1987 to April 1988 and Sasha visited him there on several occasions.

From Ms. C.’s perspective, visitation “went pretty well” during this time frame and Sasha generally “was very excited to see his father . . . .” After a visit he…