Jude M. v. Alaska Dept. of Health & Social Svcs.

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The superior court ordered a guardianship based in part on expert testimony that the father could not yet be left alone with his daughter, given the state of his progress with sex offender treatment, and in part because his probation conditions prohibited unsupervised contact with anyone under 18. A father appealed a superior court order granting long-term guardianship of his daughter to maternal relatives in another state. The father had a history of inappropriate sexual relationships, and during four years of the child’s life was incarcerated following a federal conviction for transportation of child pornography. The Alaska Supreme Court concluded the superior court had the statutory authority to establish a guardianship under these circumstances. But the court’s finding that the daughter was likely to suffer serious emotional or physical harm if returned to her father’s care was based in part on findings that lack the required basis in the expert testimony. The Court remanded for the superior court to consider whether the remaining findings were sufficient to support the guardianship order. View "Jude M. v. Alaska Dept. of Health & Social Svcs." on Justia Law