Court says man who molested daughter can keep custody of son

[Liberal_in_LA]

Should a man who molested his 6-year-old stepdaughter also lose custody of his 2-year-old son? Not unless there’s specific evidence that he’s likely to molest the boy as well, says a state appeals court.

The issue has divided appellate courts in California and is now before the state Supreme Court in another case. In a 2-1 ruling Monday, the Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles said the molesting of a daughter does not, by itself, create a “substantial risk” that the same parent will molest his son.

The court said there was evidence that the father, David R., had fondled his stepdaughter and forced her to masturbate him at an apartment he was painting. The court did not say when the incident happened or whether David R. was prosecuted.

The father did not challenge a court order removing his daughter from his custody but appealed a Los Angeles Superior Court judge’s decision that also removed his 2-year-old son. The judge in that case said it was well established that “both sexes are at risk when this type of sexual abuse occurs.” But the appeals court said studies don’t support that conclusion.

For example, the court said, a study of 157 cases of family sexual abuse, published by the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse in 2009, found that 135 of the male perpetrators abused only girls, 13 abused only boys, and nine abused both boys and girls.

http://blog.sfgate.com/crime/2012/12/31/court-says-man-who-molested-daughter-can-keep-custody-of-son/

[LeftyMom]

1. That's nuts. Even if the boy doesn't get abused, he'll be influenced by a man who abuses girls.

Which is not acceptable either.

[a geek named Bob]

2. to say that's messed up, beggars the language...

[Iggo]

3. He fucks children.

Stupid judge.

[Hekate]

4. That. Is. Sick. nt

[krispos42]

5. Umm... so she can share a jail cell with daddy?

Why the fuck isn't this person in PRISON if he's molesting children???

[TwilightGardener]

6. How about the fact that even if he's not sexually attracted to his son, he is

obviously still a sick bastard? If he harms one child, he will harm another. He is a predator unable to control his own impulses for the good of his children.

[exboyfil]

7. J. Rothschild and J. Chaney

Lets remember these two if they ever come up for a higher court position.

Frances Rothschild and Victoria Chaney (the two women ruled in favor of keeping the kid with the messed up dad - I am not sure what to make of that if anything). Chaney was a nurse before becoming a lawyer.

http://www.courts.ca.gov/2129.htm

Rothschild:
Frances Rothschild is an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal in the Second Appellate District.
She grew up on a small family farm and worked her way through college and law school with the help of a scholarship and employment as a waitress, salesperson, and legal assistant. She graduated from UCLA, majoring in economics, and went on to UCLA Law School where she graduated with honors. She is married and has four children and two grandchildren.

Justice Rothschild has a long history of public service. Her first job as a lawyer was a one-year stint as a research attorney for the very court she now serves as an Associate Justice. Then, after practicing labor law, she became an attorney in the Office of General Counsel of the California State University and Colleges. She was appointed to the Los Angeles Municipal Court and three years later was elevated to the Superior Court. Over the many years she served on the Superior Court she presided in a variety of assignments including criminal and civil trials. Her responsibilities included a term as the supervising judge of a large Superior Court department. She was elected by her fellow judges to the Executive Committees of both the Municipal and Superior courts.

Justice Rothschild has also served the community as a member of the Board of Directors of Vista Del Mar Child & Family Services, an organization devoted to providing treatment for emotionally disturbed children. She has been honored by the Los Angeles City Council and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for outstanding service. She is an educator, author, and editorial consultant for legal treatises. As a member of both a United States special commission and a California gubernatorial task force, she worked with community representatives, including law enforcement, to improve the law. She has been an advisor on judicial education to the National Center for State Courts and the United States Department of Health and Human Services. She has served on various legal and judicial committees including the Executive Committee for Alternate Dispute Resolution of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and committees of the California Judicial Council and the National Association of Women Judges.

On the Court of Appeal she has authored decisions on a broad range of legal issues and has continued her judicial committee work and involvement with judicial education.

Chaney:

On July 1, 2009 Victoria Gerrard Chaney was confirmed to the Court of Appeal, Second District, Division One, after having served nineteen years on the bench as a trial judge. Justice Chaney was appointed by Governor George Deukmejian to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1990 and elevated to the Los Angeles Superior Court by Governor Pete Wilson in 1994. She presided over criminal cases in Compton, a civil docket at the Mosk Courthouse, and, from 2000 until her elevation to the appellate court, class actions and complex litigation at the Central Civil West courthouse, in the court's Complex Litigation Division.

Before appointment to the bench, Justice Chaney was an associate with Dryden Harrington and Swartz and then served eleven years in the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, the last ten as an assistant city attorney in the office's Civil Liability Division. Prior to attending law school, Justice Chaney was a registered nurse at the LAC-USC and Cedars-Sinai medical centers

[Liberal_in_LA]

11. Thanks for the additional info

[Orrex]

8. Would those judges let him babysit their own toddler daughters?

Surely his abuse of his step-daughter doesn't mean that there would be a substantial risk to their own children, right?

[Arcanetrance]

9. Why is this even in court the bastard should be behind bars

[aikoaiko]

10. Terrible decision based of the info provided

We don't makes these kinds of distinctions with other molesters when we say they cant be around any children