Opinion ID: 1659672
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: first hearing

Text: In 1989, after Jane had returned from visitation with John that Labor Day weekend, Mary and her mother, Beth Smith, were in Beth's bedroom when Jane came in, took off her shorts and panties, lay spread eagle on the floor, and said Mommy, do you want to lick me like my daddy does? Mary saw that Jane's genital area was red and raw. When Jane told Mary Daddy tried to hurt my cootie brown, but he hurt Lois's instead, Mary took Jane to the emergency room, where she reported her suspicions of sexual abuse. Jane was examined by Dr. Carney, the emergency room physician. On another occasion, in September of 1989, Jane exhibited bizarre behavior of an arguably sexual nature. While at Mary's parents' home, two of Mary's brothers were wrestling on the floor; the older playfully threatened to pull down the younger brother's pants. Jane asked do you want me to lick you? On Thursday, March 8, 1990, Mary consented to extra visitation at the request of John and Lois. John and his father, Don Doe, took Jane to the fox pen, where they spent the night. John testified that none of the people present at the fox pen had harmed Jane in any way. The weekend of March 17-18, 1990, was John's regular visitation period. He and Lois requested that they be allowed to pick up Jane on Thursday rather than on Friday; Mary agreed. Mary bathed Jane about 6:30 that Thursday evening, noticing nothing abnormal about Jane's genital area. Lois picked up Jane at Mary's home at about 7:00 p.m. Thursday, and took her to the fox pen, where John and his father, Don Doe, had gone to fox hunt. When Lois bathed Jane on Friday evening, she noticed that her vaginal area was red, so she applied baby powder. The following day, Lois applied more powder when she saw that Jane was still red. Lois told Mary about Jane's condition when she and John took the child home on Sunday. When John and Lois left, Jane told Mary her cootie hurt. Mary took Jane inside to bathe her, but when she put Jane in the bathtub, Jane hopped up and grabbed herself between her legs and she went to screaming. Jane said The boogey man done it, he bited me and scratched me and he pushed me down. Mary examined the child and found her genital area swollen and cherry red. Mary enlisted the aid of her mother, Beth Smith, to get Jane calmed down. When Mary and Beth had no success, Mary phoned Dr. Clark in Morton, who recommended Mary take the child to the emergency room at Lackey Hospital. Dr. Carney, the emergency room physician, examined Jane that evening and told Mary to contact the Welfare Department because there was no doubt in his mind that Jane had been sexually molested. Dr. Carney diagnosed Jane as suffering from cystitis. The next morning, Dr. Carney phoned the Scott County Department of Human Services and reported that he suspected sexual abuse of Jane Doe. On Monday morning, March 19, 1990, Mary took Jane to see Dr. Howard Clark, as recommended by Dr. Carney. [3] Dr. Clark's examination of Jane revealed a red, raw, and swollen vulva; redness from the vulva up to the pubic area; urinalysis was normal, eliminating the possibility that Jane's symptoms were caused by cystitis or urinary tract infection, and there was no indication that the introitus had been penetrated. Dr. Clark was of the opinion that Jane's condition was caused by a trauma of some type. The signs of such a trauma could last three to five days from the time of trauma, depending upon treatment. Mary, again on Dr. Carney's advice, went to the Department of Human Services. The Department scheduled an appointment for Jane with Dr. Julia Sherwood, a Jackson pediatrician. Dr. Sherwood's report, based on her examination of Jane on March 22, 1990, contained no findings of sexual abuse or trauma. Mary began taking Jane to Brenda Chance, a licensed clinical social worker specializing in the area of child psychotherapy, for professional therapy. Chance conducted an evaluation to determine whether the child had been sexually abused, by whom, and whether treatment was necessary. Brenda Chance was qualified as an expert at this first hearing. Jane, four years old at the time, told Chance that she played in her Daddy's bedroom when at his house, and sometimes they went to the fox pen. Jane didn't know whether she liked going to the fox pen; she just said she gets sleepy. Using dolls, Jane discussed various body parts and their functions. Chance related that Jane talked about a boogey man touching her in her genital area when she was turkey hunting with her daddy. John denied ever having abused Jane, although he said he believed she had been sexualized. At Chance's request, Dr. Charlton Stanley, a psychologist, performed a psychological evaluation on John Doe to determine whether he exhibited any characteristics of a possible sex offender. John's test results cross-validated each other and revealed no problem to treat. John was within the normal range regarding sexual obsessions or fetishes or sexually deviant interests. The only area in which Stanley felt counseling was needed was parenting, because John suffered more stress than the average parent. Dr. Stanley's report reveals that John reported some arguably deviant sexual behavior on Mary's part during the couple's marriage. After another seven visits, during which Jane alternately made statements implicating her father and other relatives and friends and recanted these same statements, Chance determined that Jane had been sexually traumatized. Although Chance found Jane's knowledge of body parts was not uncommon, her knowledge of adult sexual behaviors was not normal. Chance did not, however, reach a conclusion regarding who the perpetrator was. She did express reservations about Jane's continued visitation with John, with or without supervision, because of the psychological impact it could have upon the child. Chance also testified that Jane would need additional therapy, possibly for as much as another year. Between Jane's last visit with Chance and the date of the first hearing, John had exercised his supervised visitation rights with Jane a number of times, pursuant to the amended TRO, in the Scott County Department of Human Services office. After one of these visits with John, Jane reportedly told her mother I'm not going to talk to that judge because my daddy told me not to or he'll hurt me worse and worse and worse. Paulette Hall, a social worker with Scott County Department of Human Services, testified that she had observed affection rather than fear when John exercised his visitation with Jane at the Department. Mickey Jones, a child abuse investigator with the Department, corroborated Ms. Hall's testimony. After this first hearing, the special chancellor modified the former final judgment on October 18, 1990, restricting John's visitation with Jane and requiring John to pay the cost of further treatment and therapy for Jane. The special chancellor found the child had been sexually abused, but did not find sufficient evidence to determine that John was the perpetrator of such abuse. The order also conditioned John's visitation rights on compliance with the other terms of the order. John was further ordered to pay Mary $3,400.00 as a portion of her attorney fees, payable in $200.00 monthly installments. John subsequently filed a notice of appeal; Mary filed a notice of cross-appeal. At this point, Jane's treatment with Brenda Chance resumed.