## Facts

- A county child welfare agency filed a juvenile dependency petition after allegations that a father repeatedly sexually abused his older daughter over several years.
- The abuse included fondling, digital penetration, and rape, beginning when the child was about 11 years old and continuing for roughly three years.
- The petition sought jurisdiction over all five children—two daughters and three sons—on the theory that the abuse of one sibling created a substantial risk to the others under Welfare and Institutions Code § 300, including subdivision (j).
- There was no evidence the father sexually abused or otherwise mistreated the three sons; the boys reported feeling safe with him and were unaware of the sister’s abuse before proceedings began.
- The juvenile court sustained the sexual-abuse allegations, declared all children dependents, and placed them with their mother under supervision.
- The Court of Appeal affirmed, and the state supreme court granted review limited to whether jurisdiction over the sons was supported.

## Issues

1. Whether prolonged and severe sexual abuse of a daughter, without evidence of mistreatment of the sons and without the sons’ knowledge of the abuse, constitutes substantial evidence under Welfare and Institutions Code § 300(j) that the sons face a substantial risk of abuse or neglect.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of California affirmed the judgment sustaining dependency jurisdiction over the sons.
- The court held that the father’s prolonged and egregious sexual abuse of one child could provide substantial evidence that the other children faced a substantial risk of harm within the meaning of § 300(j).
- The court concluded that the juvenile court’s risk finding was supported under substantial-evidence review even though the sons were not shown to have been abused and were of a different gender than the victim.

## Legal Principles

- Welfare and Institutions Code § 300(j) permits dependency jurisdiction over a child when a sibling has been abused or neglected and there is a substantial risk the child will be abused or neglected, based on the circumstances of the sibling’s abuse and other probative factors.
- Risk under § 300(j) is assessed under the totality of the circumstances; relevant considerations may include the nature, severity, and duration of the abuse and the parent’s demonstrated conduct.
- The more severe and probative the sibling abuse is of dangerous parental behavior, the less additional evidence may be needed to support an inference of substantial risk to other children.
- Gender and age differences between the abused child and siblings may be considered but are not dispositive; the statute does not restrict protection to similarly situated siblings.
- Dependency jurisdiction is preventive and protective; the state need not wait for additional children to suffer actual harm before the court may act.

## Conclusion

The court held that severe, prolonged sexual abuse of one child can, by itself and in context, constitute substantial evidence of a substantial risk to other siblings under § 300(j), supporting dependency jurisdiction even when the other siblings were not previously abused and were unaware of the misconduct.


In re I.J., 299 P.3d 1254 (Cal. 2013)