In re M.A. CA2/3

Filed 5/14/15 In re M.A. CA2/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

In re M.A., a Person Coming Under the B258955 Juvenile Court Law. _____________________________________ LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT (Los Angeles County OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES, Super. Ct. No. DK04922)

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

CHRISTINA I.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Carlos E. Vasquez, Judge. Affirmed. Matthew I. Thue, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Mark J. Saladino, County Counsel, Dawyn R. Harrison, Assistant County Counsel and Tyson B. Nelson, Deputy County Counsel for Plaintiff and Respondent.

_________________________

C.I. (mother) appeals a dispositional order after the juvenile court declared her daughter M.A. (the minor) a dependent child of the court pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivision (c).1 Mother solely challenges the underlying jurisdictional finding. She contends the juvenile court erred in assuming dependency jurisdiction due to insufficient evidence that the minor faced a risk of serious emotional damage within the meaning of section 300, subdivision (c), and due to insufficient evidence that mother was an offending parent. We reject mother’s challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence and affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND This dependency proceeding arises out of a child custody dispute between the minor’s parents. In April and May of 2014, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) received three child abuse referrals in this matter. A social worker interviewed the minor, who reported that some of her overnight visits at her father’s home had been inappropriate. For example, one morning, the minor woke up and found father covered in vomit; he was wearing boxer shorts and his penis was exposed while he was asleep, causing her to be very embarrassed. Also, father would come into the bathroom while she was taking a shower. Father denied all allegations and stated his daughter was being manipulated and coached by her mother. The social worker was present for a visit by father on April 23, 2014. The minor became “hysterical” and stated she was not going to go with father. The social worker “observed the child to be very sad; crying all the time and the child feels she is an emotional wreck because of all the things going on between father and mother and family