Unreported / Non-Citable
Background
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services became involved after reports that Mother was suicidal and that she and her three children were living in a deteriorating camper without electricity or water. The Department removed the children in June 2024 after Mother resisted the removal order. Two children then reported sexual abuse by Mother’s former boyfriend, W.M.
Evidence showed that Mother had continued taking D.R.S. to W.M.’s apartment for approximately a year after learning that he was molesting her and did not end the relationship until learning that D.M.F. had also been sexually abused. During the case, Mother lacked stable housing and income, was convicted of animal cruelty, and remained incarcerated at trial. After a bench trial, the district court terminated her parental rights under Texas Family Code subsections 161.001(b)(1)(D) and (E) and found termination in the children’s best interest.
The Court’s Holding
The Seventh Court of Appeals affirmed. It held that legally and factually sufficient evidence supported both endangerment grounds because Mother knowingly allowed the children to remain in dangerous conditions and engaged in a course of conduct that endangered their physical or emotional well-being. Her refusal to believe D.R.S.’s report and her continued exposure of the child to W.M. supported findings under both subsections (D) and (E).
The court also upheld the best-interest finding. It relied on the sexual-abuse evidence, Mother’s suicidal threats in the children’s presence, unstable housing and income, incarceration, and lengthy gaps in visitation. The Department’s plans—reunifying D.R.S. with her father and pursuing relative adoption of D.M.F. and D.L.F. by their paternal grandmother—offered greater stability and allowed continued sibling contact.
Key Takeaways
- A parent’s awareness of sexual abuse and continued exposure of a child to the alleged abuser can establish endangering conditions and an endangering course of conduct.
- Because findings under subsections (D) and (E) may affect future termination proceedings involving other children, the appellate court reviewed the sufficiency of both grounds.
- Evidence of endangerment, housing and income instability, incarceration, limited visitation, and more permanent relative placements supported the best-interest determination.
Why It Matters
The decision illustrates that a parent need not personally commit abuse to support termination under Texas law. Knowingly disregarding a risk of sexual abuse and continuing to expose a child to that danger can satisfy the clear-and-convincing-evidence standard for endangerment.
It also shows how the same conduct supporting statutory termination grounds may inform the best-interest analysis, particularly when the record contrasts a parent’s instability with concrete plans for safe, permanent family placements.