CDB v. DJE, 2005 WY 102

After pleading guilty, the appellant-father was convicted of several counts of sexually abusing his daughter. The appellee-mother filed a petition to terminate the father’s parental rights to the daughter, and the District Court terminated his parental rights pursuant to WY Stat § 14-2-309(a)(iii) and (a)(iv). The Supreme Court of Wyoming upheld the decision. In terminating appellant-father’s parental rights, the Wyoming Supreme Court held that the fact of incarceration, by itself, is not per se evidence of parental unfitness. However, incarceration is a reality that severely impacts the parent-child relationship and, therefore, should be acknowledged. The length of his incarceration of 47 years made it extremely improbable that he would ever be able to care for the ongoing physical, mental or emotional needs of the daughter. Most importantly, he was previously convicted of several counts of sexually abusing his daughter, and "there can be nothing that makes a parent more intrinsically unfit than abusing his child."

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  • 2005

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Jurisdiction