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Spaulding v. Butler8/31/2001
its investigation into the cigarette burns and found father's allegations of abuse unsubstantiated. Initially SRS did substantiate abuse by mother for failing to protect Nathan with respect to his fall from the window. However, in December 1998, SRS reversed itself and determined that insufficient information existed to substantiate allegations of abuse.
In August 1998, father and Penelope got into an argument during which father lost his temper, slapped Penelope in the face and engaged in other threatening behavior. Penelope called the police, who came and defused the situation. When the police went inside to speak with Penelope, they found Nathan lying in a fetal position. Two days later, the Spauldings filed a new relief-from-abuse petition against mother, based on the same allegations as the previous petitions and including a new allegation that Nathan had reported seeing mother and a man engaged in sexually suggestive dancing. Visitation was suspended. After a hearing on the petition, it was dismissed, at which time father became angry and had to be restrained. The court also issued a temporary order providing for visitation between mother and Nathan.
The alleged dancing incident was reported to SRS. SRS and the police decided to interview Nathan about the incident together, and instructed father and Penelope not to talk with Nathan about the interview. The Spauldings apparently did not comply. According to the court:
The police investigator noted that Nathan used words to describe the incident that he did not understand. For example, he talked about breasts but he could not show what breasts were on an anatomically correct doll. The police found it difficult to determine the extent to which Nathan at age four and one half was accurately reporting anything that might have happened a year to eighteen months earlier. Nathan was able to demonstrate using anatomically correct dolls a sexy kind of dancing between the dolls. It appears that he must have seen something of that nature somewhere. It is not clear where he saw it. Mr. Spaulding has in the past watched 'dirty movies' in his home. Penelope is a very religious person and does not do so. At the time this issue arose, Nathan had no unsupervised contact with Ms. Butler for over a year and a half.
At the time the court issued its final order on father's motion to modify, the police investigation remained unresolved, and the results of SRS's investigation had not been received.
On October 31, 1998, the evaluator attended his second visit between mother and Nathan. By this time the relationship had deteriorated-Nathan refused to interact with mother. In February 1999, the court granted father's motion to modify, and awarded father sole parental rights and responsibilities over Nathan and mother supervised visitation for six months, transitioning to unsupervised visitation. The court ordered father to pay the costs of any supervised visitation because it found that he was "PRIMARILY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SERIOUS DISRUPTIONS IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MS. BUTLER AND NATHAN, including the long-term disruption of visitation." (emphasis added). Mother moved for reconsideration, which the court denied.
Mother appeals from the final order and from the denial of her motion to reconsider.
II.
" hen reviewing the factual findings of a trial court we view them in the light most favorable to the prevailing party below, disregarding the effect of any modifying evidence, and we will not set aside the findings unless they are clearly erroneous." Stickney v. Stickney, 170 Vt. 547, 548, 742 A.2d 1228, 1230 (1999) (mem.). "We will uphold factual findings if supported by credible
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