In re V.C. CA3

Filed 4/11/22 In re V.C. CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Placer) ----

In re V.C. et al., Persons Coming Under the Juvenile C094086 Court Law.

PLACER COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (Super. Ct. Nos. 53002473, AND HUMAN SERVICES, 53002474)

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

A.C.,

Defendant and Appellant.

A.C., father of the minors V.C. and J.C. (father), appeals from the juvenile court’s order terminating its jurisdiction over this dependency action and specifically objects to the visitation order. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 364.)1 Father contends the juvenile court improperly delegated its judicial authority to the minors as to whether any visitation

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

1

would occur at all when it included language in the custody order that “visitation and contact is not to be forced.” We shall affirm. I. BACKGROUND On August 1, 2007, the Placer County Department of Health and Human Services (Department) filed a petition pursuant to section 300, subdivisions (a), (b), (c), and (i) on behalf of V.C. (born in 2006), J.C. (born in 2007), and the minors’ half sibling T.G. (born in 1992). This petition alleged father physically abused V.C. and J.C., threatened to physically harm T.G., and engaged in acts of domestic violence against the mother in the minors’ presence. The juvenile court sustained the petition. In 2008, the juvenile court terminated its jurisdiction over V.C. and J.C. and ordered the parents share joint physical and joint legal custody of the minors. On July 23, 2020, the Department received a report from an anonymous caller stating father threatens to do sexual things to the minors when they did not do what they were told, he frequently punches them, and mother suffers from delusions and paranoia. After interviews with mother and the minors, the Department filed a second petition on behalf of V.C. and J.C. pursuant to section 300, subdivisions (a), (c), and (d). Under subdivision (a), the Department alleged father punched the minors in the head and face, hit them in the face and groin, and threatened to hit them with a baseball bat. Under subdivision (c), the Department alleged father threatened the minors with physical violence and rape, and he belittled them, causing them to feel “angry, withdrawn, scared, and unsafe in his care.” Finally, under subdivision (d), the Department alleged father had been convicted in 1986 of engaging in sexual acts with a minor, sexually abused a relative in 2008, showed pornographic images to the minors, and threatened to rape the minors. The combined jurisdiction and disposition hearing was held on October 23, 2020. At this hearing, the court sustained an amended petition that struck the counts under section 300, subdivisions (a) and (d) and modified the count under subdivision (c) to