J.L.G. v. Dent Cnty. Juvenile Office

• Decision Date: 25 April 2013
• Docket Number: SD 32091,SD 32092,SD 32093.,Nos. SD 32090,s. SD 32090
• Parties: In the Interest of J.L.G., T.D.G., A.D.G., and M.A.G., Minors. E.W.G., Natural Father, Appellant, v. DENT COUNTY JUVENILE OFFICE, Respondent.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

399 S.W.3d 48

In the Interest of J.L.G., T.D.G., A.D.G., and M.A.G., Minors.E.W.G., Natural Father, Appellant,

v.DENT COUNTY JUVENILE OFFICE, Respondent.

Nos. SD 32090, SD 32091, SD 32092, SD 32093.

Missouri Court of Appeals,

Southern District,

Division One.

April 25, 2013.

David L. Simpson, St. James, MO, for appellant.

James A. Broshot, Steelville, MO, for respondent.

WILLIAM W. FRANCIS, JR., J.

E.W.G. appeals the judgment terminating his parental rights. We dismiss the appeal as to J.L.G.¹ Finding no merit in his seven points on appeal, we affirm the judgment of the Juvenile Division of the Circuit Court of Dent County (the “trial court”) as to T.D.G., A.D.G., and M.A.G.

Factual and Procedural Background

“In reviewing a judgment terminating parental rights, this Court consider[s] the facts and reasonable inferences derived therefrom in a light most favorable to the judgment.” In re C.A.M., 282 S.W.3d 398, 401 (Mo.App. S.D.2009) (internal quotations and citations omitted). Viewed in that context, the following information is pertinent to this appeal. The record reveals that E.W.G. is the biological father of T.D.G., born October 22, 1997; A.D.G., born November 28, 1999; and M.A.G., born February 13, 2001 (collectively “the Children”).²

While E.W.G. is not the biological father of J.L.G., Mother is the natural mother of all four children. J.L.G. had been living solely with E.W.G. and her siblings since 2006, when Mother left the home and moved to Iowa. Mother's whereabouts were unknown at the time of the hearing for termination of parental rights.

On April 21, 2010, J.L.G. and T.D.G. told their junior high school counselors and a police officer that E.W.G. had physically abused them. Both girls had bruises on their legs and arms, and J.L.G. also had several red marks on her arm that were suspected to be cigarette burns. Upon being taken to the police department for questioning about the allegations, E.W.G. refused to cooperate. He was then arrested and jailed. E.W.G. was charged with the class C felony of abuse of a child in violation of section 568.060 (Charge 1); ³ the class C felony of domestic assault in the second degree in violation of section 565.073 (Charge 2); the class C felony of abuse of a child in violation of section 568.060 (Charge 3); and the class C felony of domestic assault in the second degree in violation of section 565.073 (Charge 4).

On April 22, 2010, a “Petition,” including an “Affidavit for Removal and Affidavit of Efforts Provided by Children's Division Section 211.183 RSMo [,]” was filed with the court by a Juvenile Officer with the Dent County Juvenile Office (“Juvenile Office”) on behalf of all the children, alleging the children were in “need of the care and treatment of [the] [c]ourt.” ⁴ Sara Lancaster (“Lancaster”), a caseworker with the “Dent County Children's Division,” was assigned to the Children's case on the same day.

The petition alleged that E.W.G. “repeatedly whipped [J.L.G.] ... and [T.D.G.] ... with an extension cord or cable leaving extensive bruising” on said children; that E.W.G. had “burned [J.L.G.]'s arm with a cigarette,” leaving approximately “seven round marks in various stages of healing [ ]”; “knocked [J.L.G. and T.D.G.]'s head[s] into the walls on more than one occasion[ ]”; “pulled T.D.G.'s hair”; and whipped A.D.G. and M.A.G. with a paddle. The petition also alleged the children reported the beatings or whippings were so frequent that they could not “remember a great deal of the reasons for the beatings[,]” and the abuse began after Mother left the home. The children reported E.W.G. did not “beat the boys and [treated] the girls differently than the boys.”

This was not the first time the children had come into care as the result of abuse by E.W.G. E.W.G. pled guilty to two counts of assault in Iowa and as a result, there was a court order prohibiting E.W.G. from having contact with J.L.G. while on probation for these offenses. On July 30, 1997, the Children's Division in Grundy County, Iowa, was notified that Mother refused to abide by the order and E.W.G. was having contact with J.L.G., so the Iowa Children's Division took custody of J.L.G.⁵ In October 1997, when T.D.G. was born, she was taken into protective custody when she was two days old because E.W.G. was living in the home with Mother. In 1998, when E.W.G. and Mother married, visits with J.L.G. and T.D.G. were suspended. The Iowa Children's Division had no further contact with E.W.G. and Mother until the birth of A.D.G. on November, 28, 1999, when he too was taken into custody at the age of two days. The record indicates that termination of parental rights “was sought on 8/21/00 but was denied by the Court.”

The record also revealed that “an unexplainable death ... occurred with [E.W.G.]'s child of a prior marriage in the state of Kansas. The hospital reported that the child died of an illness and [E.W.G.] reported that the child was struck in the head by a rock from another child and put in a bag.” Also mentioned was “a hotline received on 9/3/10 for other sexual abuse; lack of supervision ... due to [E.W.G.] showing the children pornographic material ... [which] was concluded as Unsubstantiated–Preventative Services Indicated”; an assessment relating to J.L.G. “received on 9/5/08 for Poor Hygiene” that was “concluded as Services Needed–Family Declined”; and an investigation “on 5/11/09 for bruises, welts, red marks” that was concluded as “Unsubstantiated.”

On May 14, 2010, the trial court found the allegations against E.W.G. to be true, found all the children to have been abused by E.W.G., assumed jurisdiction of all the children, and placed all the children in the physical custody of the Children's Division of the Missouri Department of Social Services (“Children's Division”) because an “emergency existed which placed [all the children] in imminent danger of serious physical harm or death.” The trial court ordered E.W.G. to complete a psychologicalevaluation and that visitation with the Children be supervised by Children's Division.

After gaining his release from jail, E.W.G. visited A.D.G. and M.A.G. every week at the office of Children's Division during May through September, 2010. E.W.G. was not allowed to see J.L.G. or T.D.G. due to the felony charges against him for child abuse.

On August 29, 2010, E.W.G. completed his court-ordered psychological evaluation with Dr. Frederick Nolen.⁶ E.W.G. was diagnosed as having alcohol dependence with unknown remission, “[n]eglect of child, perpetrator,” and antisocial personality disorder. Dr. Nolen stated he knew of no services or medication that “would improve or cause some sort of improvement” with E.W.G. Dr. Nolen recommended there be no further contact between E.W.G. and the Children and that his parental rights be terminated immediately.

E.W.G.'s last visit with any of the children was on September 22, 2010, when he saw A.D.G. and M.A.G. for an hour while under supervision at Children's Division. One week later, the trial court followed Dr. Nolen's recommendation and ordered no further contact between E.W.G. and the children.

On March 22, 2011, E.W.G. entered Alford⁷ pleas of guilty to Charges 1 and 3, felony child abuse; Charges 2 and 4, domestic assault, were dismissed. The court sentenced E.W.G. to seven years' imprisonment each on Charges 1 and 3, with the sentences to run consecutively, suspended those sentences, and placed E.W.G. on five years' supervised probation. One condition of E.W.G.'s probation was that he have no contact with J.L.G. and T.D.G.

On November 23, 2011, the Juvenile Officer filed a “Petition for Termination of Parental Rights” (“Petition for Termination”) requesting the trial court terminate E.W.G.'s parental rights to T.D.G., A.D.G. and M.A.G., and Mother's parental rights as to J.L.G., T.D.G., A.D.G. and M.A.G. Under the heading “Facts Common to Both Counts,” the Juvenile Officer alleged the court found that on May 14, 2010, E.W.G. had physically abused J.L.G. and T.D.G. and that all the children had been in the custody of the Juvenile Court for “a period in excess of one year and the conditions which led to the assumption of jurisdiction still persist or the conditions of a potentially harmful nature continue to exist.” Count II of the Petition for Termination applied specifically to E.W.G. and alleged as grounds for termination that: (1) he failed to complete his written service agreement; (2) he had a lengthy history of abusing children; (3) on April 20, 2010, he entered pleas of guilty to two counts of the class C Felony of abuse of a child, which mandated the filing of the Petition for Termination under section 211.447.2(3)(d); (4) the felony guilty pleas prohibited the court from ever placing the Children back with E.W.G.; (5) “[p]ursuant to [s]ection 211.447.4(2)(c) RSMo.,⁸ [E.W.G.] has committeda severe act or recurrent acts of physical, emotional or sexual abuse toward [the Children] or any child in the family and the parent knew or should have known that such acts were being committed toward [the Children]”; and (6) “[p]ursuant to [s]ection 211.447.4(2)(d) RSMo., [E.W.G.], although physically and financially able, repeatedly and continuously fails to provide the children with adequate food, clothing, shelter, education, and other care and control necessary for the [Children]'s physical, mental and emotional health and development.”

On February 7, 2013, Lancaster filed with the trial court her “Investigation and Social Summary” (“summary”). The summary assessed each child's bond to E.W.G. In regard to the girls, neither J.L.G. nor T.D.G. appeared to have a bond with E.W.G., and they both reportedly “requested no contact with him since [they] came into care.” The boys both reportedly “appeared happy to see [their] father” when they had supervised visitation, but after the trial court discontinued the visitation, both boys “no longer appear[ed] to have any bond” with E.W.G., and at the...