In re H.M. CA2/3

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

After father threw H.M. out of the home following a heated argument, the minor disclosed to her adult “stepsister,”3 and later to law enforcement, that father had raped her three times. Law enforcement took H.M. into protective custody and contacted the Department of Children and Family Services (the Department). The Department placed H.M. in foster care and undertook an investigation to assess the safety of her minor half-sister. H.M. told the investigating social worker father had raped her on three occasions, the first occurring when she was 11 years old, the second when she was in the seventh grade, and the last when she was in the eighth grade.4 Each time father woke her in the middle of the night, said nothing to her, got on top of her, orally copulated her, and vaginally penetrated her with his fingers and penis. H.M. could not move because father was “very heavy.” After the first incident, father apologized and told her it was “ ‘never going to happen again.’ ” He did not apologize after raping her the second and third times. The social worker reported H.M. was “visibly distraught and upset” when she recounted the incidents. The juvenile court…