Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Kitching, J.
I
Introduction
In this case we decide the juvenile court did not abuse its discretion when it granted the petition of a school district to disclose confidential information from a juvenile court file that a schoolteacher had sexually abused his minor daughters.
Appellant, Robert G. (Father) was a schoolteacher. The juvenile court sustained a petition alleging that he had sexually abused his two daughters. The school district which employed Father petitioned the juvenile court pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 827 1 to disseminate the information regarding the juvenile court’s finding of sexual abuse to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Section 827 permits the juvenile court to grant a petition to disclose the confidential juvenile court information where the need for disclosure outweighs the policy favoring confidentiality of juvenile court records. We hold that the confidentiality *1411 laws regarding the disclosure of juvenile court records are meant to protect the child’s privacy and not to protect adults from the consequences of their acts. We find the trial court did not abuse its discretion and we affirm.