Saraswati

Ranganath Saraswati appeals from the trial court’s judgment denying his petition for writ of administrative mandamus against the County of San Diego (the County) challenging the County’s determination in an administrative hearing that the child abuse allegations made against Saraswati in 2006 were inconclusive rather than unfounded. As we will explain, we *920 conclude that the trial court applied the wrong standard in reviewing the County’s determination, and accordingly we remand this matter to the trial court to apply the correct standard.

I

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In April 2006, Saraswati was involved in a contentious custody dispute over his then five-year-old daughter (the Child) after the dissolution of his marriage to the Child’s mother (Mother).

On April 18, 2006, several days before a scheduled April 24, 2006 hearing to consider sanctions against Mother for violations of a custody order, Mother took the Child to the emergency room, stating that the day before, while being bathed, the Child told her that Saraswati had inserted his fingers and his toothbrush into her vagina and anus. According to the report of the County’s investigating social…