In re I.F. CA1/4

BACKGROUND

A. Petition In May 2019, the Sonoma County Human Services Department (the department) filed a section 300 petition alleging Minor was suffering, or at substantial risk of suffering, serious emotional damage due to ongoing emotional abuse from her mother, and that the abuse manifested in “chronic depression, aggressive outbursts, self-harming and suicidal ideation, chronic hopelessness, anxiety and a desire to be placed in out of home care, as a result of the mother being unceasingly rageful, verbally abusive, threatening and punishing towards the child.” (§ 300, subd. (c).) It further alleged that Father’s whereabouts were unknown at that time. (Ibid.) Minor and her two half-sisters (now 13 and 19 years old) had been the subject of multiple prior referrals, and the department had provided services to the family since 2012. During a forensic interview in 2018, Minor’s half-sister L.Q. disclosed two instances of oral copulation by Father (L.Q.’s stepfather) and other times when Father would touch her chest over her clothing.

The record reflects that Father was arrested on “charges with sex acts with a minor under the age of ten and lewd or lascivious acts with a…