San Diego County Health & Human Services Agency v. Marvin P.

Marvin P., who is the stepfather of T.R. and has lived in the same household as the child and her mother for seven years, appeals an order denying him presumed father status in T.R.’s dependency case. T.R. was declared a dependent of the juvenile court after an allegation that she was at substantial risk of being sexually abused based on Marvin’s history of molesting other children and reports of inappropriate conduct by Marvin with T.R. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 300, subd. (d).)

In contending his application for presumed father status should have been granted, Marvin claims he met the criteria of Family Code section 7611, subdivision (d), 1 and the presumption of paternity was not rebutted. We disagree and affirm.

PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Marvin is a registered sex offender, having been convicted in 1993 of three counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child under the age of 14 (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a)) and sentenced to six years in prison. Marvin was released in 1996 and subsequently met T.R.’s mother while both were living at a halfway house connected to a work furlough program. After completing the program, Marvin and T.R.’s mother began living…