Judge: Joel R Wohlfeil, Case: 37-2023-00029738-CU-PO-CTL, Date: 2024-02-07 Tentative Ruling
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA,
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HALL OF JUSTICE
TENTATIVE RULINGS - February 07, 2024
02/09/2024 09:00:00 AM C-73 COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO
JUDICIAL OFFICER:Joel R. Wohlfeil
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Civil - Unlimited PI/PD/WD - Other Demurrer / Motion to Strike 37-2023-00029738-CU-PO-CTL M VS SAN DIEGO ROCK CHURCH [IMAGED] CAUSAL DOCUMENT/DATE FILED: Demurrer, 11/29/2023
The general Demurrer (ROA # 62) of Defendants San Diego Rock Church, Kevin Johnstone and Mickey Stonier ('Defendants') for an order to the First Amended Complaint ('FAC') by Plaintiffs A.M. and E.M.'s ('Plaintiffs'), is OVERRULED.
Defendants are ordered to file and serve Answers within twenty (20) days of this hearing.
The Request (ROA # 110) of Defendants County of San Diego, Shara Freeman, Dennis Leggett, Omar Avila, and Daisy Gudino ('Defendants') for judicial notice is DENIED.
Defendants are only parties to the first cause of action for negligence. To establish a cause of action for negligence, Plaintiff must show that the defendant had a duty to use due care, that it breached that duty, and that the breach was the proximate or legal cause of the resulting injury. Doe v. Lawndale Elementary School Dist. (2021) 72 Cal. App. 5th 113, 125.
A duty exists only if Plaintiff's interests are entitled to legal protection against Defendant's conduct. Id. Generally, the person who has not created a peril is not liable in tort merely for failure to take affirmative action to assist or protect another from that peril. Id. However, this no-duty-to-protect rule is not absolute. Id. A person may have an affirmative duty to protect the victim of another's harm if that person is in a special relationship with either the victim or the person who created the harm. Id. (school district and its employees have a special relationship with the district's pupils).
The Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (Pen. Code, § 11164 et seq. – 'CANRA') imposes a mandatory duty of care. Specifically, CANRA requires a 'mandated reporter' to make a report to a law enforcement agency or a county welfare department whenever the mandated reporter, in his or her professional capacity or within the scope of his or her employment, has knowledge of or observes a child whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse or neglect. Id. at 138.
Failure to make the required report is a misdemeanor. Id. (citing Pen. Code 11166(c)).
In addition, an injured minor may bring a civil action where a breach of the mandated reporter's duty to Calendar No.: Event ID: TENTATIVE RULINGS
3059434 CASE NUMBER: CASE TITLE: M VS SAN DIEGO ROCK CHURCH [IMAGED] 37-2023-00029738-CU-PO-CTL report child abuse causes the minor's injuries. Id. The definition of a 'mandated reporter' consists of an exhaustive list of various classes of care providers and professionals, including 'clergy members.' Pen. Code 11165.7(a)(32).
'Clergy member' means 'a priest, minister, rabbi, religious practitioner, or similar functionary of a church, temple, or recognized denomination or organization.' Id. Paragraph 31 within the FAC alleges that Defendant 'Johnstone was a clergy member, chaplain, and commissioned minister who owed a mandatory duty to report the abuse under Penal Code section 11164, et seq. Mr. Johnstone's failure to report the abuse, while acting in the scope of his employment with the Rock Church, is imputed to the church ....' See also FAC at ¶ 71. Therefore, sufficient facts are alleged regarding this defendant's status and duty as a 'mandated reporter' pursuant to CANRA.
Paragraph 32 within the FAC alleges that Defendant 'Stonier was a clergy member, executive pastor, and commissioned minister who owed a mandatory duty to report the abuse under Penal Code section 11164, et seq. Mr. Stonier's failure to report the abuse, while acting in the scope of his employment with the Rock Church, is imputed to the church ....' See also FAC at ¶ 71. Therefore, sufficient facts are alleged regarding this defendant's status and duty as a 'mandated reporter' pursuant to CANRA.
'Reports of suspected child abuse or neglect shall be made by mandated reporters ... to any police department or sheriff's department ....' Pen. Code 11165.9.
'... [A] mandated reporter shall make a report to an agency specified in Section 11165.9 whenever the mandated reporter, in the mandated reporter's professional capacity or within the scope of the mandated reporter's employment, has knowledge of or observes a child whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse or neglect ....' Pen. Code 11166(a).
Mandated reporters have mandatory reporting duties which are governed by an objective standard. B.H.
v. County of San Bernardino (2015) 62 Cal. 4th 168, 193.
The duty to report arises not on the basis of the mandated reporter's personal assessment of the facts known to him or her, but on the basis of what a reasonable person would suspect based on those facts.
Id.
The existence of such circumstances triggers the mandatory duty to report the circumstances to a designated outside agency. Id. Defendants argue the FAC fails to allege facts demonstrating that Johnstone or Stonier had knowledge of, or observed the abuse and neglect as a result of their positions as clergy members of the church.
Paragraph 71 of the FAC alleges: 'Mr. Johnstone and Mr. Stonier, in their professional capacities and within the course and scope of their employment and agency with the Rock Church, knew or should have known or reasonably suspected that Arabella, A.M., and E.M. were the victims of child neglect and abuse.' Paragraphs 26 - 30 provide additional facts regarding this knowledge. These facts are sufficient to satisfy the pleading requirements. Whether the alleged observations and knowledge was sufficient to trigger the mandated reporting duty is ultimately a question of fact that cannot be determined via this Demurrer.
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