In re Katherine L.

• Decision Date: 12 October 2022
• Docket Number: s. 2021-04492,2021-04493 Docket Nos. N-18663-17,N-18664-17
• Parties: In the Matter of Katherine L. (Anonymous). Administration for Children's Services, respondent; Adrian L. (Anonymous), appellant. (Proceeding No. 1.) In the Matter of Heymi M. (Anonymous). Administration for Children's Services, respondent; Adrian L. (Anonymous), appellant. (Proceeding No. 2.)
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

2022 NY Slip Op 05691

In the Matter of Katherine L. (Anonymous). Administration for Children's Services, respondent; Adrian L. (Anonymous), appellant. (Proceeding No. 1.) In the Matter of Heymi M. (Anonymous). Administration for Children's Services, respondent; Adrian L. (Anonymous), appellant. (Proceeding No. 2.)

Nos. 2021-04492, 2021-04493 Docket Nos. N-18663-17, N-18664-17

Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

October 12, 2022

Carol L. Kahn, New York, NY, for appellant.

Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix, Corporation Counsel, New York, NY (Jessica Miller of counsel; Eliana Ramelson on the brief), for respondent.

Janis A. Parazzelli, Floral Park, NY, attorney for the child Katherine L.

Fredericka P. Bashir, Brooklyn, NY, attorney for the child Heymi M.

HECTOR D. LASALLE, P.J. ROBERT J. MILLER LARA J. GENOVESI LILLIAN WAN, JJ.

DECISION & ORDER

In related proceedings pursuant to Family Court Act article 10 the father appeals from (1) an order of fact-finding of the Family Court, Kings County (Ben Darvil, Jr., J.), dated November 20, 2020, and (2) stated portions of an order of disposition of the same court dated June 3, 2021. The order of fact-finding, after a fact-finding hearing, found that the father abused the child Heymi M. and derivatively neglected the child Katherine L. The order of disposition, inter alia upon the order of fact-finding and after a dispositional hearing, placed the father under the supervision of the Administration for Children's Services until December 3 2021.

ORDERED that the appeal from the order of fact-finding is dismissed, without costs or disbursements, as that order was superseded by the order of disposition and is brought up for review on the appeal from the order of disposition; and it is further, ORDERED that the appeal from so much of the order of disposition as placed the father under the supervision of the Administration for Children's Services until December 3, 2021, is dismissed as academic, without costs or disbursements; and it is further, ORDERED that the order of disposition is modified, on the facts, by deleting the provision thereof, upon the order of fact-finding, determining that the father derivatively neglected the child Katherine L., and substituting therefor a provision denying the petition alleging that the father derivatively neglected the child Katherine L. and dismissing that proceeding; as so modified, the order of disposition is affirmed insofar as reviewed, without costs or disbursements, and the order of fact-finding is modified accordingly.

The appeal from so much of the order of disposition as placed the father under the supervision of the Administration for Children's Services until December 3, 2021, must be dismissed as academic, as that portion of the order expired by its own terms (see Matter of Kyanna T. [Winston R.], 99 A.D.3d 1011, 1013). The findings of abuse and derivative neglect, however, constitute a permanent and significant stigma which might indirectly affect the father's status in future proceedings. Therefore, the appeal from the portion of the order of disposition that brings up for review the findings of abuse and derivative neglect is not academic (see id. at 1013).

The Administration for Children's Services (hereinafter ACS) commenced these related proceedings, alleging, among other things, that the father sexually abused the then 14-year-old subject child Heymi M. and thereby derivatively neglected the then 5-year-old subject child Katherine L. After a fact-finding hearing, the Family Court found that the father sexually abused the child Heymi M. and derivatively neglected the child Katherine L. After a dispositional hearing, the court, inter alia, placed the father under the supervision of the ACS until December 3, 2021. The father appeals.

At a fact-finding hearing in a child protective proceeding pursuant to Family Court Act article 10, the petitioner has the burden of establishing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the subject children have been abused or neglected (see id. § 1046[b][i]; Matter of Madeleine B. [Peter B.], 198 A.D.3d 641, 642). "Great deference is given to the Family Court's credibility determinations, as it is in the best position to assess the credibility of the witnesses having had the opportunity to view the witnesses, hear the testimony, and observe their demeanor" (Matter of Na'ima W [Kenyatta W.], 192...