Crone, J.
May a court order a parent to make a child available for an interview requested by the Indiana Department of Child Services (“DCS”) to assess that child’s “condition” pursuant to Indiana Code Section 31-33-8-7, where the child’s older sibling has made and then recanted allegations of sexual abuse against a family member who lives in the children’s home? The trial court in this case answered that question in the affirmative, and we agree.
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Affirmed.
BAILEY, J., concurs.
RILEY, J., dissents with opinion.
RILEY, Judge, dissenting
I respectfully disagree with the majority’s opinion to affirm the trial court’s order to make G.W. available for a forensic interview at Susie’s Place in Bloomington. In reaching its decision, the majority equates the DCS’s request for a forensic interview of a child who is not the subject of an abuse investigation with the statutory requirement that the DCS’s assessment must include “[t]he names and conditions of other children in the home.” I.C. § 31-33-8-7(a)(3) (emphasis added). Specifically, the opinion interprets “condition” as encompassing the possibility to subject the other children in the home to an invasive forensic interview.
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Even though G.W.’s sister made an initial allegation of sexual abuse, she has since recanted and clarified that she had been angry with Mother for not spending as much time with her. She has denied making the diary entries alluding to sexual intercourse and the DCS has not established any evidence that G.W.’s sister wrote the entries. Rather, DCS has conceded that the diary entries could have been written by anyone. Despite the recantation and lack of evidence, DCS still wants to subject G.W. to an intrusive forensic interview in a strange environment by unknown interviewers merely to clarify some inconsistencies in how her sister originally reported the alleged abuse. Without good cause to believe that G.W. may be at risk for sexual abuse and without statutory grounds to grant DCS’s motion, I find the motion to compel Mother to subject her minor child to a forensic interview to be an impermissible extension of DCS’s authority. I would reverse the trial court’s order.