COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA Present: Judges O’Brien, Malveaux and Senior Judge Frank UNPUBLISHED AKSHAY KHADI MEMORANDUM OPINION* v. Record No. 0174-20-3 PER CURIAM SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 WYTHE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF WYTHE COUNTY Josiah T. Showalter, Jr., Judge (W. Grant Back; Warburton Law Offices, on brief), for appellant. Appellant submitting on brief. (Michael R. Bedsaul; Mary Foil Russell; Michael J. Sobey, Guardian ad litem for the minor child; Sands Anderson, PC, on brief), for appellee. Appellee and Guardian ad litem submitting on brief. Akshay Khadi (“Akshay”) appeals circuit court orders terminating his parental rights to his child and approving the foster care goal of adoption. Akshay argues that the circuit court erred by finding that the evidence was sufficient to change the foster care goal from return home to adoption and that adoption was in the child’s best interest. He further asserts that the circuit court erred in terminating his parental rights under Code § 16.1-283(C)(2) and finding that termination was in the child’s best interest. Upon reviewing the record and briefs of the parties, we conclude that the circuit court did not err. Accordingly, we affirm the decision of the circuit court. * Pursuant to Code § 17.1-413, this opinion is not designated for publication. BACKGROUND1 “On appeal from the termination of parental rights, this Court is required to review the evidence in the light most favorable to the party prevailing in the circuit court.” Yafi v. Stafford Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 69 Va. App. 539, 550-51 (2018) (quoting Thach v. Arlington Cnty. Dep’t of Hum. Servs., 63 Va. App. 157, 168 (2014)). Akshay and Isabel Gayosso-Leon are the biological parents to the child who is the subject of this appeal.2 Cynthia Khadi (“Cynthia”) is Akshay’s wife and the child’s stepmother.3 Cynthia has known the child since the child was fifteen months old; Akshay and Cynthia had been married approximately four months before the child entered foster care. On February 15, 2018, Akshay and Cynthia were arrested and incarcerated for possessing stolen vehicles, giving false identities to law enforcement, and contributing to the abuse or neglect of a minor.4 As a result of their arrests, the Wythe County Department of Social Services (the Department) placed the five-year-old child in foster care. The Wythe County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court (the JDR court) entered an emergency removal order and 1 The record in this case was sealed. Nevertheless, the appeal necessitates unsealing relevant portions of the record to resolve the issues appellant has raised. Evidence and factual findings below that are necessary to address the assignments of error are included in this opinion. Consequently, “[t]o the extent that this opinion mentions facts found in the sealed record, we unseal only those specific facts, finding them relevant to the decision in this case. The remainder of the previously sealed record remains sealed.” Levick v. MacDougall, 294 Va. 283, 288 n.1 (2017). 2 Gayosso-Leon voluntarily terminated her parental rights in the Wythe County Juvenile ...
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