State v. A.C.
State v. A.C., 2022 UT App 121 (Mortensen, J.)
Civil
A.C.’s name was added to the DCFS’s LIS database of perpetrators of “severe types of child abuse” after he had consensual sex with a fifteen-year-old when he was eighteen and after DCFS “supported” the finding of “severe abuse.” A.C. petitioned to have his name removed. The district court granted his petition, because A.C. and victim were longtime friends and there was no coercion. The State filed a motion seeking post-judgment relief based on the statutory definition of “severe types of child abuse or neglect.” The Court of Appeals agreed with the State and reversed, holding:
- The district court misinterpreted the statute. The statute makes clear that any sexual abuse of a minor by an adult is a severe type of child abuse for the purposes of the database. Analysis of harm to the minor is neither necessary nor appropriate.
