In re I.B. CA2/3

INTRODUCTION

In this juvenile dependency case, father challenges the court’s jurisdictional finding under Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivision (b) regarding two of his children, two- year-old I.B. and newborn J.R. (the minors).1 The court found that the minors would be at substantial risk of serious physical harm in father’s custody because father abused another newborn child in 2004, causing multiple, severe injuries. That abuse led to a conviction for child abuse and a seven-year prison term. Although the prior instance of abuse is remote in time, we reject father’s contention that there is no nexus between that conduct and a risk of harm to the minors. Specifically, the severity of the injuries in the prior case and the additional evidence of a pattern of abuse of that newborn child, coupled with the age of the minors in this case and the absence of any rehabilitative efforts on father’s part, provide substantial evidence to support the court’s jurisdictional findings. Accordingly, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

1. Background Father is the presumed father of I.B. (born 2020) and J.R. (born 2022.) At the outset of these proceedings, mother…