P.N., APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, APPELLEE
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A man challenged his placement on Florida's child abuse registry after engaging in sexual abuse of a minor. The court reversed the administrative order, holding that registry placement requires the perpetrator to occupy a specific legal relationship of responsibility for the child's welfare, which the appellant did not have.
The appellant must be expunged from the abuse registry because he did not occupy any of the statutorily defined relationships (parent, guardian, custodian, foster parent, school/daycare employee, or person legally responsible for the child in a residential setting) that would make him appropriately listed on the abuse registry.
[1] A person's name may not be listed on the child abuse registry if the perpetrator does not occupy a relationship with the minor child that makes them legally responsible f…
[2] To be listed on the child abuse registry, the perpetrator must be the child's parent or fall within the statutory definition of "other persons responsible for a child's w…
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“To be appropriately listed on the abuse registry, the perpetrator must occupy some relationship with the minor child which makes him legally responsible for the child's welfare.”
Establishes the core legal requirement for registry placement—a statutorily defined relationship of responsibility
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn June 1988, the appellant befriended a fifteen-year-old boy through Narcotics Anonymous and engaged in oral sex with him on multiple occasions in hi…
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PATTERSON, Judge.
The appellant challenges a final administrative order of the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services (HRS) denying his request for expunction from the child abuse registry. We reverse.
In June of 1988 the appellant became friends with a fifteen-year-old boy through their membership in Narcotics Anonymous. The appellant acceded to the teenager’s request that the appellant perform oral sex on the boy. Several instances of oral sex occurred on different occasions in the appellant’s car. As a result, in August of 1988 HRS confirmed a report of sexual abuse of a child. HRS denied the appellant’s request to expunge his name from the abuse registry. This timely appeal followed.
Although the appellant committed sexual abuse, he is not in that class of persons to be listed on the abuse registry. To be appropriately listed on the abuse registry, the perpetrator must occupy some relationship with the minor child which makes him legally responsible for the child’s welfare. The perpetrator must either be the parent of the child or fall within the definition in section 415.503(12), Florida Statutes (Supp.1988)1 :
“Other persons responsible for a child’s welfare” includes the child’s legal guardian, legal custodian, or foster parent; an employee of a public or private school, public or private child day care center, residential home, institution, facility or agency; or any other person legally responsible for the child’s welfare in a residential setting.
The appellant did not occupy any of the relationships with the teenager as set forth in section 415.503(12), and the appellant was never legally responsible for the teenager’s welfare in a residential setting. Thus, the appellant was not responsible for the teenager’s welfare as defined by statute. The appellant’s name must be expunged from the abuse registry and the confirmed report of abuse amended to reflect that it was not perpetrated by a person who occupied a position of responsibility for the child’s welfare.
Reversed and remanded.
SCHOONOVER, A.C.J., and LEHAN, J., concur. . Currently numbered as § 415.503(13), Fla. Stat. (1989).