Opinion ID: 201283
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Consistency with Dr. Pierre's findings.

Text: 38 Danaipour attacks the merits of the sexual abuse finding. He argues that the finding was impermissibly contrary to the conclusion of the one independent expert, Dr. Pierre, who concluded: [i]t is very possible that something has happened, however, based on the contents of this disclosure evaluation it is difficult to determine the exact nature of what that is. Therefore the results of this evaluation [as to C.D.] would have to be considered inconclusive. Expanding on this, at trial, Dr. Pierre testified she was certain something happened to C.D. that was traumatic and sexual but said she did not know specifically what that [was]. 39 Danaipour argues that it would require a very good reason for the district court, nonetheless, to conclude there was sexual abuse and that no such reason exists here. Danaipour argues that of the five experts who testified, only one, Dr. Pierre, was truly independent, and only two, Dr. Pierre and Dr. Luxenberg, actually met with and interviewed the children. 3 40 We reject Danaipour's first argument that once the court-appointed expert said the results of the evaluation as to C.D. would have to be considered inconclusive the court could not plausibly conclude that C.D. had been sexually abused. First, there was no inconsistency between Dr. Pierre's report and the court's conclusions. We quote at greater length from Dr. Pierre's report: 41 With regard to C.D. the case is less clear. The trail is cold for her collateral contacts which are vital in making determinations in cases with very young children. . . . 42 During this evaluation C. did speak. She initially denied everything. Upon further questioning she stated that maybe something happened once but never again. She then became very distressed stating that she was worried that she would get her Baba into trouble, her Momma into trouble and herself into trouble. It is common for children to fear hurting a parent with a disclosure. It is also common for a child to state abuse and then recant. This cannot be taken as a nondisclosure, but one is careful to not to consider it a full disclosure. C. was not clear enough during this evaluation for this examiner to feel completely comfortable that the information given in this disclosure interview was complete and solid enough to constitute a full disclosure. It is very possible that something has happened, however, based on the contents of this disclosure evaluation it is difficult to determine the exact nature of what that is. Therefore the results of this disclosure evaluation would have to be considered inconclusive. 43 However, it is clear to this examiner that something has happened to C. She stated that her Baba had done bad things to her and she wasn't going to tell me what they were. Based on what C. has said to her therapist she has had experiences with the father that the therapist considers abusive. Dr. Luxenberg's notes are compelling. C's memory of events is clearly hampered by the fact that the occurrences would have happened approximately 1 1/2 years ago which is almost half of her life ago. Not to mention that she has been in a therapeutic relationship focused on helping her heal. Old memories naturally become integrated into new ones. In addition, C's memories are most assuredly state dependent at such an early age and would naturally be more likely accessed through a therapeutic relationship than by direct questioning such as was done in the disclosure evaluation. 44 My recommendation is that the evaluation end of this be terminated at this time. I do not believe another sexual abuse evaluation will come any closer to the truth than this one did. I would recommend that the therapeutic relationship continue and that information from that source continue to be given credibility. 45 Dr. Pierre also testified that from her own observations of C.D. it was clear something had happened to C.D. but she could not say with any degree of certainty what happened. She thought it not useful to do a further disclosure evaluation because the data was old and that Dr. Luxenberg had better data. And when Dr. Pierre considered Dr. Luxenberg's notes, she found the notes suggest that something more compelling has happened and more worrisome, and that Dr. Luxenberg's data should be treated credibly. Dr. Pierre's opinion to a reasonable degree of medical certainty was that something had happened between C.D. and her father, and that something bad and something sexual had happened. 46 The court relied on the disclosures made by C.D. to both Dr. Luxenberg and Dr. Pierre, as well as the corroborative disclosures made by C.D. to her family members and the play activity of the child. The court stated: The disclosures to Dr. Luxenberg are relatively unambiguous in demonstrating that C.D. associated the word `hammer' with the arm movements involved in masturbation. Her alternate references to `hammering' and being herself `hammered' satisfy me that there were multiple occasions involving her participation in masturbation of Danaipour and his masturbation of her. Further, the court found that the disclosure made by C.D. to Dr. Pierre was corroborative of those made to Dr. Luxenberg, and supported the finding of sexual abuse. Moreover, these statements were consistent with those testified to by McLarey, Morin, and the children's grandmother. 47 In interpreting the play activity of C.D. the district court also considered the interpretation of Dr. Munson, Danaipour's expert, that the play be interpreted as only expressing themes from an animation series. The court held that the play was more than a simple re-enactment of the series. Rather, C.D. used the characters and themes of the series to express and disclose the abuse and her reactions to it. The court considered and rejected the possibility of cultural distortion. The court found that while C.D.'s statements and activities were arguably ambiguous, the most logical interpretation was that C.D. had been sexually abused. In fact, the court accepted Dr. Munson's methodology of testing of contrary hypotheses and found no other hypothesis as compelling as that C.D. was sexually abused by her father. The finding that C.D. was sexually abused by her father was supported by the evidence. 48 B. Challenge to the Finding that Return of C.D. and A.D. to Sweden Posed A Grave Risk of Psychological Harm 49 1. Role of Danaipour's Acknowledgment of Responsibility. 50 As a subsidiary finding in support of its grave risk conclusion, the district court commented that an additional impediment to return was the father's refusal to acknowledge that C.D. had any difficulties. 51 The court's comment was itself based on Dr. Pierre's report, which said that a first step in reducing harm would be [Danaipour] offering [C.D.] an apology during his first contact with her. This apology does not have be one admitting guilt but rather one that acknowledges there have been some things that have happened that have caused her great worry and for that he is sorry. The report was issued on July 31, 2002 to the court and counsel. Danaipour testified on August 2, 2002. We have carefully read his testimony and it contains no indication of any willingness on his part to make the acknowledgment Dr. Pierre recommended. Rather, Danaipour testified that he had not looked at the report. He continued to insist, in the face of Dr. Pierre's report, that C.D.'s statements were the result of C.D. being coached and prompted by her mother. The district court also invited commentary from the parties on Dr. Pierre's report and received none. 52 Danaipour's argument is that he was precluded by a visitation order from speaking to C.D. and his motion for visitation rights had not been resolved, so the court's criticism is unfair. The argument mixes tenses. Dr. Pierre's report refers to what Danaipour should do at any future point of first contact with C.D. On the witness stand he had the opportunity to express a willingness to take that step, a step which the independent expert characterized as a first step toward healing for his daughter. He chose instead to insist his daughter's statements were the result of programming by their mother. The court properly considered this in its evaluation. 53 2. Article 13(b) Requirements. 54 The district court, consistent with the second aspect of the mandate, made explicit findings that the return of C.D. and A.D. to Sweden would cause each child a grave risk of psychological harm and create an intolerable situation. Danaipour's argument that the court did not make such findings is simply not supported by the record. 55 Danaipour makes another argument that the evidence did not support any finding of grave risk, particularly in light of the ability of the Swedish courts to rule on custody and visitation rights of children and Sweden's mechanisms to evaluate whether sexual abuse has occurred. Danaipour criticizes the district court for not directly addressing the issue of protections available in Sweden. 56 The court credited and primarily relied on the testimony of two experts, Dr. van der Kolk and Dr. Luxenberg, on the effects of a return on the two children. The evidence from Dr. Luxenberg was particularly compelling; Dr. van der Kolk's conclusions were consistent. 57 Two days after the initial district judge ordered the return of the children to Sweden, Dr. Luxenberg met with C.D. At that session, C.D. spontaneously raised the topic of return, saying her mother had told them they had to go to Sweden. C.D. said she did not want to go to Sweden and did not want to see her father. Through her play she raised the issue that she had told the truth and that her father had not told the truth and had done bad things to her. C.D. became extremely anxious, screaming and shaking and repeating, No, no, no, no! She later expressed fear that if she saw her father again, he'll just keep doing it, and I don't want him to. She equated a return to Sweden with seeing her father. In contrast to the ambivalent feelings C.D. expressed about her father, C.D. expressed no ambivalence about her desire not to return to him or to Sweden. C.D. made the point repeatedly. 58 Dr. Luxenberg also had therapeutic sessions with A.D. It was striking to her that A.D. never expressed any desire to return to Sweden or to see her father. A.D. told Dr. Luxenberg that she thought her father really did do it [to C.D.] and she hoped he would not do it again. She equated going back to Sweden with something bad happening to her, and expressed anxiety that if she were returned to Sweden she would be separated from her mother (as had happened during their last return to Sweden) and that her father would do those things that C.D. said that he did again. Dr. Luxenberg concluded: 59 It is imperative that C.D. and A.D. continue in therapy at this time. Both have been able to develop a very strong and trusting therapeutic relationship, and are able to talk about difficult issues in a way they were unable to do at the beginning of therapy. Without suggesting that the girls would be unable to re-form a similar therapeutic relationship elsewhere, disrupting their therapy at this critical time in their development may cause the girls to become reluctant to discuss their experiences and their emotional responses to them, which is vital to their psychological recovery. Both are still clearly worried about the potential consequences of being honest and open about their feelings and experiences, and to have therapy prematurely terminated would reinforce the sense that talking is, indeed, dangerous. 60 Dr. van der Kolk did not meet C.D. but did review the record and observed some testimony at trial. Dr. van der Kolk drew conclusions which were entirely consistent. 4 61 The district court concluded that psychological harm to C.D. and A.D. would be a necessary consequence of a return to Sweden, regardless of any possible conditions or undertakings imposed. These harms were beyond the power of any court to prevent or remedy if the children were returned. Danaipour's arguments about the authority of the Swedish courts are, as a result, beside the point. Nothing in Article 13(b) required further inquiry in these circumstances, as this case involves a situation in which the [Swedish] authorities, through no fault of their own, may not be able to give the children adequate protection. Blondin v. Dubois, 238 F.3d 153, 163 n. 11 (2d Cir.2001). 62 Danaipour cites to our holding in Danaipour I stating the standard for qualifying for the Article 13(b) exception, for the proposition that a district court cannot properly find that an Article 13(b) exception exists unless it examines the remedies available in the country of habitual residence. 5 Our holding in Danaipour I does not stand for the proposition that every Article 13(b) analysis requires two such distinct prongs. In fact, Danaipour I specifically identified the limited role undertakings may play in certain situations. See Danaipour I, 286 F.3d at 21. Danaipour I also noted the great weight afforded to the State Department policy concerning undertakings in a situation involving child abuse: 63 If the requested state court is presented with unequivocal evidence that return would cause the child a grave risk of physical or psychological harm, however, then it would seem less appropriate for the court to enter extensive undertakings than to deny the return request. The development of extensive undertakings in such a context would embroil the court in the merits of the underlying custody issues and would tend to dilute the force of the Article 13(b) exception. 64 Id. at 25 (quoting Department of State Comment on Undertakings). The district court properly followed Danaipour I's mandate; its finding of the existence of sexual abuse and that the return of the children to Sweden would result in a grave risk of psychological harm was adequate to satisfy the Article 13(b) exception, and no further inquiry into remedies available to the Swedish courts was required.