In re C.D. CA2/1

BACKGROUND

Our opinion in a previous appeal summarized the relevant facts as follows: “Ten-year-old J.H. and his half-brothers R.R., age 5, and C.D., age 11 months, came to the attention of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in October 2008 after J.H. went to his school nurse to obtain an ice pack for his swollen arm. J.H. told the nurse that his mother’s boyfriend had given him a ‘“whoopin”’ the night before. The nurse observed bruises and swelling on J.H.’s arm and called the DCFS. “That afternoon a social worker interviewed J.H. at school. The worker reported that she observed red, raised linear welts on the child’s right arm and back and a dark purple bruise on his upper right arm. She also observed linear scars on J.H.’s legs which, he told her, were the result of ‘“whoopins”’ by the boyfriend with an ‘extension cord.’ (Later in the interview, he clarified that the cord was a jump rope.) J.H. stated that he received this punishment because he forgot to give C.D. his bottle and then lied about it. J.H. told the worker that before the boyfriend moved into their home, his mother would punish him by hitting him with a belt. Now, however, his mother and her…