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In re Jamie P.11/10/2003
INTRODUCTION
Rhonda P., the natural mother of Jamie P., appeals from an adjudication in the separate juvenile court of Douglas County on a petition filed by the State. The State's petition alleged that Jamie was a minor within the meaning of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-247(3)(a) (Cum. Supp. 2002) as a result of the actions of Alan C., Jamie's natural father, in that Alan had subjected Jamie to inappropriate sexual contact, placing her at risk for harm. Rhonda was granted leave to intervene in the matter. The juvenile court dismissed the charge in the State's petition relating to Alan's inappropriate conduct and terminated the jurisdiction of the court. Rhonda appeals, alleging that she was denied procedural due process in connection with her intervention, that the court erred in excluding from evidence statements Jamie allegedly made while asleep, and that the court erred in failing to find that there was sufficient evidence that Alan had inappropriately touched Jamie. For the following reasons, we affirm.
BACKGROUND
We initially note that at the time the juvenile court became involved in this matter, Rhonda and Alan were involved in a district court custody proceeding that had been pending for approximately 1 year. The district court proceeding was scheduled for trial in January 2002 but was apparently continued at Rhonda's request. The parties in the juvenile court matter acknowledged that Alan had had custody of Jamie pursuant to an order of the district court from approximately May or June 2001 until February 2002, when Jamie was placed in the custody of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (the Department) by the juvenile court.
Rhonda had had supervised visitation with Jamie through the district court custody proceedings. Alan testified in the present matter that after the district court ordered this supervised visitation, Rhonda did not exercise her visitation rights for approximately 1 month. Alan did allow Rhonda to have one overnight unsupervised visitation with Jamie in February 2002 due to a special family event of Rhonda's. During that visitation, Jamie's half sister, Jessica P., allegedly overheard statements made by Jamie while Jamie was sleeping; Jamie allegedly stated, "'Daddy stop'" and "'I don't like sex'" while making a "humping" motion with her body. The next day, or shortly thereafter, Rhonda took Jamie to a hospital for a physical examination due to her concerns that Alan had sexually abused Jamie. An officer from the Omaha Police Department also responded and interviewed Jamie, taking her into protective custody and placing her with Rhonda. The doctor who examined Jamie found no signs of trauma on her. Det. Richard Mahoney of the child victim section assault unit of the Omaha Police Department interviewed Jamie and Rhonda on March 1. Jamie indicated to Mahoney that Alan had licked her all over and rubbed the private parts of her body. Mahoney indicated that Jamie was "age appropriate" in her responses to his questions, but he did not find her to be believable and described her claim as "farfetched." Another doctor conducted a physical examination of Jamie at this time and was unable to find any evidence of sexual trauma. In addition to Jamie and Rhonda, Mahoney interviewed Alan and two other individuals who had allegedly been present during the inappropriate sexual contact. Alan and the two other individuals denied the allegations of sexual abuse. At the conclusion of his investigation, Mahoney determined that there was insufficient evidence for any criminal charge to be filed against Alan.
Randy McCarty, a child protection safety worker with the Department, performed an initial assessment on the family in March 2002. Mc
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