Hunter v. Goodrich

• Court: Indiana Appellate Court
• Writing for the Court: BAKER
• Citation: Hunter v. Goodrich, 984 N.E.2d 724 (Ind. App. 2013)
• Decision Date: 07 March 2013
• Docket Number: No. 07A05–1205–GU–244.,07A05–1205–GU–244.
• Parties: Kenneth HUNTER, Appellant–Petitioner, v. Deborah GOODRICH and Paul Goodrich, Appellees–Respondents.

984 N.E.2d 724

Kenneth HUNTER, Appellant–Petitioner,

v.Deborah GOODRICH and Paul Goodrich, Appellees–Respondents.

No. 07A05–1205–GU–244.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

March 7, 2013.

Appeal From The Brown Circuit Court; The Honorable Judith A. Stewart, Judge; The Honorable Douglas E. Van Winkle, Magistrate; Cause No. 07C01–1003–GU–4.

Michael R. Auger, Franklin, IN, Attorney for Appellant.

James T. Roberts, Daniel C. Reuter, Nashville, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

MEMORANDUM DECISION NOT FOR PUBLICATION

BAKER, Judge.

This case involves the guardianship of a five-year-old girl. Kenneth Sr. and Tina Hunter (collectively, the Hunters) are the paternal grandparents of P.G., who was born on January 8, 2008. Dia (Mother) and Kenneth Hunter, Jr. (Father) are P.G.'s parents, and Paul and Deborah Goodrich (the Goodriches) are P.G.'s maternal grandparents. The Goodriches are P.G.'s current guardians and the Hunters petitioned to remove the Goodriches and have the trial court name them as P.G.'s successor guardians.

The issue presented here is whether the trial court erred in allowing evidence of Kenneth Sr.'s prior incidents of sexual and emotional abuse of his children, which provided a sufficient evidentiary basis for the trial court to deny the petition to change guardians. Kenneth Sr. argues that admitting such evidence was error because the alleged incidents happened many years ago, and the overwhelming evidence clearly demonstrates that he and his wife should be appointed P.G.'s guardians.

Although the trial court found, and we agree, that neither arrangement is ideal for P.G., we find that the evidence of Kenneth Sr.'s prior abuse was properly admitted in these circumstances and that the evidence was sufficient to support the trial court's decision to have the Goodriches remain as P.G.'s guardians, subject to certain modifications as ordered.

Thus, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

FACTS

On March 5, 2010, the Goodriches filed an emergency petition for their appointment as temporary guardians and for permanent guardianship of P.G. because of Mother's history of mental health instability that included several suicide attempts. Both Mother and Father consented to the guardianship.

On March 22, 2010, the trial court appointed the Goodriches as P.G.'s guardians, where it determined that Mother and Father were unable to provide for P.G.'s support, maintenance, and medical care. The order stated that Mother was to have parenting time “as the parties agree in the home of [the Goodriches].” Appellant's App. p. 12. It was also determined that

Father shall exercise parenting time with the minor child.... However, there shall be a deviation from the Indiana Parenting Guidelines in that Father's parenting time shall be exercised in the home of and supervised by the paternal grandparents.... Should Father not elect to exercise his parenting time, paternal grandparents shall have the option to exercise visitation with the ward to preserve their relationship with the child. Father shall be designated the non-custodial parent for holiday and extended parenting time purposes.

Id.

On October 7, 2011, the Hunters filed a motion for clarification and modification of the order, stating that the Goodriches had permitted Mother to take P.G. from the home on numerous occasions and spend the night in Mother's home in violation of the prior order. In response, on December 21, 2011, the Goodriches filed a petition to modify the guardianship order to permit Mother to have P.G. on an unsupervised basis.

On January 15, 2012, Mother was arrested after a physical altercation with her husband that occurred after she had attempted to commit suicide. Five days later, the Hunters filed an emergency petition to modify the guardianship for a confirmation that the Goodriches should not allow Mother to have unsupervised parenting time with P.G. The Hunters also sought to have the trial court remove the Goodriches as P.G.'s guardians.

The trial court heard evidence on three different days regarding the Hunters' emergency petition.¹ During these hearings, Mother testified about the physical struggle that she had with her husband in P.G.'s presence earlier that month. Mother also admitted to a history of mental illness, that she has attempted to commit suicide on at least two occasions, and that she has threatened suicide “quite a bit.” Tr. p. 12–13. Mother acknowledged that the police had been called to her residence on at least four occasions where she had threatened to commit suicide. Mother also testified that Kenneth Sr. had physically and sexually abused P.G. However, even though Mother had contacted the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) and the Johnson County Sheriff's Department about these incidents, they were never substantiated.

Paul Goodrich also testified and acknowledged that Mother had mental health issues and that he was concerned for P.G.'s safety while she was in Mother's care. Likewise, Debbie Goodrich acknowledged Mother's suicide attempts and her own inability to control Mother's behavior.

Katie Hurley, Kenneth Sr.'s youngest daughter, testified that Kenneth Sr. had physically, sexually, and emotionally abused her and her sister when they were children. Hurley also testified that Kenneth Sr. would drink, become intoxicated, and use marijuana in his daughters' presence. Kenneth Sr. also failed to protect his daughters from his son's sexual abuse, even though they had reported various incidents to him. Some of these incidents occurred more than ten years ago.

Kara Hunter also testified that she believed that Kenneth Jr. did “inappropriate things” to her when she was four or five years old. Tr. p. 212–14. She also remembered that Kenneth Sr. would put his tongue in her mouth when he kissed her.

Kenneth Sr.'s former wife, Susan Falstreau, also testified about incidents that occurred nearly twenty years earlier. More specifically, Falstreau testified that Kenneth Sr. was physically and mentally abusive towards her during the marriage. At some point, Falstreau told the Goodriches that Kenneth Sr. was “horrible” and “evil.” Tr. p. 244.

Kenneth Sr. denied all allegations of abuse that his daughters and ex-wife had made against him. However, Kenneth Sr. admitted abusing marijuana and alcohol at some point in his life.

Simon Gelaye, a caseworker with the DCS, testified that he became involved in the case in January 2012, after receiving a report of neglect regarding P.G. It was determined that P.G. should be removed from the Goodriches' care because they had initially promised that Mother would not live in the house. Thus, DCS personnel believed that P.G.'s safety was endangered.

When P.G. was initially removed from the Goodriches' residence, Paul refused to allow Gelaye into the residence and made threats against him. The Brown County Sheriff's Department was also contacted to prevent Paul from following Gelaye once Gelaye had left the premises.

Finally, the guardian ad litem (GAL) testified that P.G. should be with the Hunters. Even though an allegation of child molest had been substantiated against Kenneth Jr., the GAL felt that the incident should have no bearing on the recommendation because the allegation was remote and Kenneth Jr. did not live with the Hunters.

Following the hearing, the trial court denied the Hunters' emergency petition to modify the guardianships and entered the following findings of fact and conclusions of law:

While neither the present guardians' home nor the Hunters' home is ideal for the child, the court finds the home of the guardians to be the most suitable home for the child. The testimony of Katie Hurley and Kara Hunter is found to be truthful and such evidence establishes that Kenneth Hunter, Sr. physically, sexually and emotionally abused his own daughter when they were children. Moreover, Mr. Hunter abused alcohol and became intoxicated in his daughters' presence and openly rolled marijuana and smoked marijuana cigarettes in their presence and view. Mr. Hunter also failed to protect his daughters from sexual abuse by his son, Kenneth Hunter, Jr. when such abuse was reported to him. The court finds that the testimony of the girls' mother, Susan Falsteau, establishes that Mr. Hunter also physically and emotionally abused her and Kenneth Jr. The court finds Mr. Hunter's denials not credible.

The Court does recognize that certain problems exist in the guardians' household as well. Specifically, the child's mother, Dia Goodrich suffers from certain emotional disorders which sometimes result in explosive emotional outbursts and hysteria and, on at least one occasion, violence toward her husband, Brian Cramer, which resulted in bodily injury to Mr. Cramer. Further, there is evidence that Paul Goodrich has difficulty managing his anger, although it is unknown if this was a problem before Mr. Hunter unilaterally refused to return the child to the guardians. The court further finds the guardians exercised poor judgment in agreeing to and allowing Kenneth Hunter, Sr. and Tina Hunter to have extended parenting time with the child after knowing of the allegations of abuse of his own children, and not investigating these allegations.

Based on these findings, the trial court made the following modifications to the Goodriches' guardianship:

1. So long as Dia continues in her counseling and continues to make progress she may reside in the guardians' home and have normal contact with [P.G.], subject, however to the requirement that all contact between Dia and [P.G.] shall be supervised by one of the guardians. The guardians shall take all necessary steps to remove Dia from the home in the event she discontinues...