In re I.J.

The Court of Appeal upheld a juvenile court’s finding that a father sexually abused his daughter over a three-year period. It further held that this finding supports the determination that the daughter and her younger sister are dependents of the court under Welfare and Institutions Code section 300. Those questions are not before us. Rather, we must decide whether a father’s sexual abuse of his daughter supports a determination that his sons are juvenile court dependents when there is no evidence the father sexually abused or otherwise mistreated the boys, and they were unaware of their sister’s abuse before this proceeding began.

We conclude that a father’s prolonged and egregious sexual abuse of his own child may provide substantial evidence to support a finding that all his children are juvenile court dependents.

I. Facts and Procedural History

We take these facts largely from the majority opinion in the Court of Appeal.

J.J. (father) is the father of two daughters and three sons. On August 8, 2011, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (Department) filed a petition alleging that all five children—daughters who were then 14 and nine…