[Cite as In re C.T.L.V., 2023-Ohio-1182.] IN THE COURT OF APPEALS TWELFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO BUTLER COUNTY IN RE: : C.T.L.V. : CASE NO. CA2022-12-122 : OPINION 4/10/2023 : : : APPEAL FROM BUTLER COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS JUVENILE DIVISION Case No. JN2021-0115 Michael T. Gmoser, Butler County Prosecuting Attorney, and Michael Greer, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee, Butler County Department of Job and Family Services. Michele Temmel, for appellee, father. Mark Raines, for appellant. Legal Aid Society of Southwest Ohio, LLC., and Jamie Lee Landvatter, guardian ad litem. PIPER, J. {¶1} Appellant, Mother, appeals a decision of the Butler County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, granting permanent custody of her daughter, C.T.L.V., to the Butler County Department of Job and Family Services ("BCDJFS"). The child's Father did not Butler CA2022-12-122 appeal.1 For the reasons detailed below, we affirm. Preliminary Background {¶2} C.T.L.V. is a female child born on August 20, 2013. Mother and Father are immigrants from Guatemala and C.T.L.V. was not born in the United States. The record further indicates Mother and Father also have two other children. {¶3} While the reasons for doing so are disputed, Father, at some point, moved to Ohio taking C.T.L.V. with him. Mother claims that Father took C.T.L.V. without her permission and that Father would not allow her to communicate with C.T.L.V. At the time of the permanent custody hearing, Mother acknowledged that she had not seen C.T.L.V. in person for five years. {¶4} C.T.L.V. had significant cognitive delays which have improved, but still exist in varying degrees. The foster mother stated that when first arriving in her care, C.T.L.V. had the cognitive ability of an approximately one-and-one-half-year-old child, despite being seven years old. Furthermore, foster mother stated that when C.T.L.V. first arrived, she was remarkably nonverbal. Throughout these proceedings, C.T.L.V. has become more verbal with an increasing ability to communicate in both English and Spanish. Initial Proceedings Upon Removal {¶5} On April 16, 2021, BCDJFS refiled an abuse, neglect, and dependency complaint regarding C.T.L.V. seeking temporary custody.2 In the refiled complaint, BCDJFS alleged that on October 12, 2020, the Hamilton Police Department conducted a police removal of C.T.L.V. after she was left for an indeterminate period of time unattended in a vehicle at Miami Valley Gaming. 1. Father also did not appear at the permanent custody hearing. 2. BCDJFS filed a previous complaint which is not contained in the record thereby providing incomplete information as to why the complaint was refiled. -2- Butler CA2022-12-122 {¶6} The same day she was removed, C.T.L.V. was admitted to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Hospital staff discovered that C.T.L.V. had internal injuries to her vagina, which indicated sexual abuse. Hospital staff also discovered "male DNA" on C.T.L.V.'s body. BCDJFS stated there was an ongoing criminal investigation and it had received allegations that C.T.L.V.'s father was the alleged perpetrator of the possible sexual abuse.3 {¶7} According to the refiled complaint, Father had not enrolled C.T.L.V. in school despite the child having reached the age …
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