IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 15-0396
Filed May 20, 2015
IN THE INTEREST OF K.H., A.H.,
and S.H.,
Minor Children,
S.H., Father,
Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Plymouth County, Robert J. Dull,
District Associate Judge.
A Father appeals a child in need of assistance adjudication. AFFIRMED.
Douglas L. Roehrich of Roehrich Law Office, L.L.C, Sioux City, for
appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Bruce Kempkes, Assistant Attorney
General, Darin J. Raymond, County Attorney, and Amy Oetken, Assistant County
Attorney, for appellee.
Jeffrey S. Kuchel of Thompson, Phipps & Thompson, L.L.P., Remsen, for
mother.
Kathryn C. Stevens of Juvenile Law Center, Sioux City, attorney and
guardian ad litem for minor children.
Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ.
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BOWER, J.
A father, S.H., appeals the juvenile court order adjudicating his children,
A.H. and S.H., in need of assistance (CINA) pursuant to Iowa Code section
232.2(6)(c) (2013), and his child, K.H., CINA pursuant to Iowa Code sections
232.2(6)(c), and 232.2(6)(d). He claims the State failed to prove the grounds for
the adjudication by clear and convincing evidence. We affirm the adjudication.
I. BACKGROUND FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
In June 2014, K.H. told her mother that her father had been sexually
abusing her. The mother then took all three children to a child advocacy center
where a forensic interviewer conducted individual interviews with the children.
The two younger children, A.H. and S.H., stated they had touched each other
inappropriately and their father had used a belt on them for disciplinary purposes;
but denied any sexual abuse by their father. During her interview, K.H.
graphically described various sexual acts her father had forced her to perform
when her mother was not home. She noted the acts had been ongoing for
several years. After the children’s interviews, the mother was asked if there was
any reason K.H. should not be believed or if K.H. and the father were feuding.
The mother responded in the negative to both questions. Shortly after the
interviews, the mother and the children moved out of the home they shared with
the father and his parents.
A CINA adjudication hearing was held on November 19, 2014, and the
juvenile court entered an order adjudicating the children CINA on December 5.
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Both the mother and father declined to testify at the adjudication. In its order, the
court reasoned:
This case centers on K.H.’s allegation that her adoptive
father sexually molested her over an extended period of time. With
the exception of the interviews of A.H. and S.H., and the testimony
of Alison Justice [a social worker and case manager], the evidence
generally centers on the conduct of K.H. and her credibility. The
evidence presented by the father attempts to show that K.H. had
been acting out and wanted out of the home for reasons unrelated
to any sexual abuse and that she fabricated the allegations solely
to get out of the parental home. A review of that evidence does
show that K.H has been acting out and indicating that she wanted
to get away from her parents. To say that this supports her making
false allegations, however, is not the sole conclusion that can be
drawn from this evidence. It is just as probable that K.H. was
acting out and wanted out of the home because she was being
abused. In other words, the father’s evidence can be found to be
supportive of K.H’s allegations. The matter, in fact, comes down to
K.H. herself and her credibility versus some evidence of the father’s
good character and disbelief in K.H.’s statements. A review of
K.H.’s interview shows her memory and statements to be
consistent, appropriate, and totally credible. This, the Court
concludes, significantly outweighs the opinions expressed by the
father’s witnesses . . . . This is even more significant given the
father’s previous conviction of an offense requiring him to register
as a sexual offender. Viewing all of the evidence as it relates to
K.H’s allegation, the Court finds that the allegation of sexual abuse
of K.H. by the father has been proven.
As to the allegation set out in the State’s Petition regarding
K.H.’s siblings, the Court also finds that the State has met its
burden. This conclusion is fully supported by the testimony of
Alison Justice, the findings of this Court as to the allegation of
sexual abuse of K.H., and the failure of either parent to testify in
regard to the State’s allegation. See In re D.D., 653 N.W.2d 359,
361–62 (Iowa 2002).
The juvenile court adjudicated A.H. and S.H. CINA pursuant to Iowa Code
section 232.2(6)(c), and K.H. CINA pursuant to Iowa Code sections 232.2(6)(c),
and 232.2(6)(d). The juvenile court held a dispositional hearing on February 17,
2015, where it upheld the adjudication. The father now appeals.
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II. STANDARD OF REVIEW.
We review CINA proceedings de novo. In re J.S., 846 N.W.2d 36, 40
(Iowa 2014). “In reviewing the proceedings, we are not bound by the juvenile
court’s fact findings; however, we do give them weight.” Id. “Our primary
concern is the children’s best interests.” Id. “CINA determinations must be
based upon clear and convincing evidence.” Id.
III. ANALYSIS.
On appeal, the father claims the State failed to prove the grounds for
adjudication by clear and convincing evidence. He claims the court erred in
finding he had sexually abused K.H., and there was no evidence that A.H. and
S.H. were “imminently likely to suffer harm.” Although the juvenile court
adjudicated K.H. CINA on two statutory grounds, we will affirm its decision if we
find adjudication was appropriate on any one ground. In re J.A.D.-F., 776
N.W.2d 879, 884 (Iowa Ct. App. 2009). Iowa Code section 232.2(6)(c) provides,
in relevant part:
6. “Child in need of assistance” means an unmarried child:
c. Who has suffered or is imminently likely to suffer harmful
effects as a result of any of the following:
(1) Mental injury caused by the acts of the child’s
parent, guardian, or custodian.
(2) Whose parent, guardian, other custodian, or other
member of the household in which the child resides has physically
abused or neglected the child, or is imminently likely to abuse or
neglect the child.
We find ample evidence in the record to support the juvenile court’s
conclusion that the children suffered or are imminently likely to suffer harmful
effects. See Iowa Code § 232.2(6)(c)(2). Specifically, we find K.H. suffered
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“mental injury” and A.H. and S.H. are imminently likely to suffer mental injury if
they remain in their father’s care. The father claims we should not believe K.H.’s
testimony because it lacks supporting substantive evidence. We find the
testimony presented at trial and the reports of the various caseworkers provides
“clear and convincing evidence” for the purposes of adjudicating the children
CINA. Additionally, we find it fair to draw the inference that since K.H. was
abused by the father, then A.H. and S.H. are “imminently likely” to be abused by
their father. See In re D.D., 653 N.W.2d 359, 362 (Iowa 2002) (reasoning that
“[p]rior decisions likewise reflect the common sense notion that, ordinarily, all
siblings are at risk when one child has been sexually abused.”); see also In re
E.B.L., 501 N.W.2d 547, 548 (Iowa 1993) (finding father allegedly sexually
abused oldest daughter and all six children were adjudicated CINA); In re A.B.,
492 N.W.2d 446, 447 (Iowa Ct. App. 1992) (ordering CINA petition filed on all
children after allegations of sexual and physical abuse of one child).
We find clear and convincing evidence supports the juvenile court’s CINA
adjudication and we affirm.
AFFIRMED.