In re A.C. CA2/8

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY1

A. The February 24, 2012 Marina Del Rey Incident

S.C. (father) and A.D. (mother) are the parents of A.C., and in February 2012 all three lived together on father’s boat in Marina Del Rey. On February 24, 2012, father brought the 10-month-old boy to a Sherman Oaks hospital because the child’s hands had been severely scalded the day before. When a doctor recommended transferring the child to a burn center, the father said he would take the child there himself. The hospital called the police, who stopped the father soon after. The police saw that A.C.’s hands were red, blistered, and very swollen, and the child was taken to the West Hills Burn Center. Father blamed the incident on a babysitter who he claimed was bathing A.C. and failed to notice that the child was turning on the hot water. The police contacted the woman father identified as the babysitter. Although she knew father, she had never met the child and denied any involvement in the incident. Mother later contacted the police and admitted that the burns happened while she was bathing A.C. According to mother, A.C. turned on the hot water, which then splashed on his hands. Mother said she…