Saiter v. Luce

• Docket Number: 23-0276
• Decision Date: 20 December 2023
• Parties: KEVIN E. SAITER, JR., Petitioner-Appellee, v. HOPE M. LUCE, Respondent-Appellant.
• Court: Iowa Court of Appeals

1

KEVIN E. SAITER, JR., Petitioner-Appellee,
v.
HOPE M. LUCE, Respondent-Appellant.

No. 23-0276

Court of Appeals of Iowa

December 20, 2023

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, Tamra Roberts, Judge.

A respondent appeals from the district court's denial of a petition to modify the custodial and physical care provisions of an original order.

Eric D. Puryear and Eric S. Mail of Puryear Law P.C., Davenport, for appellant.

Jennifer M. Olsen of Olsen Law Firm, Davenport, for appellee.

Considered by Bower, C.J., and Schumacher and Langholz, JJ.

2

SCHUMACHER, JUDGE

A parent appeals from the district court's January 2023 order which denied a request to modify both legal custody and physical care of the parties' child, arguing that a substantial and material change of circumstances since the original custody order warrants the requested relief.

I. Background Facts and Prior Proceedings

R.S. was born in 2016. In 2018, her parents, who were never married, entered a stipulation for custody, visitation, and child support, which the district court adopted. The order provided for joint legal custody and shared physical care of R.S. In the absence of an agreement, the parties rotated the child every seven days. At the time of the entry of the order, the parties resided together. Sometime after the entry of the order, the parties established separate residences. The order was administratively modified the next year in 2019 regarding child support. In 2021, the mother petitioned to modify both legal custody and physical care. The mother's petition alleged as follows:

1. The [father] has abused and undermined the [mother] in front of the minor child on numerous occasions

2. The [father] has failed to communicate with the [mother] properly as to changes in visitation and shared care schedules

3. The [father] has failed to properly take care of the minor child when in his care.

At trial in November 2022, the mother testified that R.S. disclosed to both her mother and play therapist that when she was four years old and in her father's care, a friend, the same age as R.S., touched her inappropriately while the children were playing "doctor." The mother also raised concerns that R.S. may have committed sexual abuse of a young child and referred to the father's other child,

3

age ten, as a sexual abuser. The mother and play therapist described the incident between the four-year-olds as "sexual abuse." Because of reports by the mother and the play therapist, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was twice involved. Both times the HHS reports were unconfirmed, and HHS determined R.S. was safe with both parents.

The mother also criticized the father's choice of babysitters, including the maternal grandmother,^[1] who the mother testified was an alcoholic; what she viewed as the father's lack of attention to their daughter's health, specifically his response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and previous domestic abuse between the mother and father.

The court issued an order denying the mother's request for sole legal...