Court Opinion

ID: 9715916
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 06:19:53.669765+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:39.821704
License: Public Domain

MILLER, Judge,
dissenting.
I dissent. I cannot agree with the majority's conclusion that IC 31-3-1-6(g)(2)(B) requires that the father be convicted only in the case of rape. Rather, in my opinion, the legislature intended a conviction as a condition precedent for subsections (ii) and (i) as well.
Subsection (i) clearly requires that the father be convicted of rape under the Indiana statute. However, it is not so clear as to what the legislature intended when it added "(ii) child molesting (IC 85-42-4-3); or (iii) incest (IC 85-46-1-3)." In my opinion, this should be interpreted to mean that consent is required unless the natural father has been convicted of rape, child molest, or incest in this jurisdiction.
When faced with an ambiguous statute, this court must interpret the statute in order to ascertain and effectuate the general intent of the legislature. Economy Oil Corp. v. Indiana Department of State Revenue (1975), 162 Ind.App. 658, 321 N.E.2d 215. In construing an ambiguous statute, this court presumes that the legislature intended the language of the statute to be applied in a logical manner, consistent with the legislation's underlying goals and policy. Collins v. Thakkar (1990), Ind.App., 552 N.E.2d 507. We also presume that the legislature does not intend an absurd result. State ex rel. Hatcher v. Lake Superior Court (1986), Ind., 500 N.E.2d 737.
The obvious intent of this statute is to deprive a father of the right to object to the adoption when the child was conceived as the result of the commission of a crime.1 Under the majority's theory, if a rape occurs outside this state, the rapist's consent is required, but not so with child molest or incest occurring outside the state. This is *1092an absurd result because it clearly does not fulfill the purpose of the statute.

. Rape and child molest are both crimes of force where consent of the victim is absent. Incest, however, might be an entirely different situation.