Opinion
1999-04909
Argued June 14, 2002.
September 10, 2002.
In a child abuse proceeding pursuant to Family Court Act article 10, the father appeals, as limited by his brief, from so much of an order of fact-finding and disposition of the Family Court, Kings County (Grosvenor, J.), dated May 18, 1999, made after a hearing, as found that he had abused the subject child.
Lawrence A. Salvato, New York, N.Y., for appellant.
Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York, N.Y. (Edward F. X. Hart and Drake A. Colley of counsel), for respondent.
Kenneth M. Tuccillo, Hastings, N.Y., Law Guardian for the child.
Before: MYRIAM J. ALTMAN, J.P., GABRIEL M. KRAUSMAN, ROBERT W. SCHMIDT, STEPHEN G. CRANE, JJ.
ORDERED that the order of fact-finding and disposition is reversed insofar as appealed from, on the law and the facts, without costs or disbursements, and the proceeding is dismissed.
The evidence at a hearing established that on June 6, 1998, the father confronted his then 17-year-old daughter regarding concerns he had relating to her behavior, the daughter pushed him and turned away, and the father slapped her in the face, causing swelling and a bloodshot eye. While it is true that a single incident may be sufficient to sustain a finding of abuse (see Matter of Barbara S., 244 A.D.2d 556, 557), and while we certainly do not condone the father's conduct, such a finding is not warranted here. Given the child's age, the circumstances under which this verbal-turned-physical altercation occurred, the isolated nature of the father's admittedly inappropriate conduct, and the nature of the child's injuries, there was insufficient evidence to support the court's finding that the father inflicted an injury "which [caused] or [created] a substantial risk of death, or serious or protracted disfigurement, or protracted impairment of physical or emotional health or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ" (Family Ct Act § 1012[e][i]; see Matter of Amanda E., 279 A.D.2d 917, 919; Matter of P. Children, 272 A.D.2d 211, 212).
ALTMAN, J.P., KRAUSMAN, SCHMIDT and CRANE, JJ., concur.