Albany County Department for Children, Youth & Families v. Ana P.

*856OPINION OF THE COURT

W. Dennis Duggan, J.

The issue in this case is whether the res ipsa loquitur presumption contained in Family Court Act § 1046 (a) (ii) can be applied to find that a mother, whom the Albany County Department for Children, Youth and Families concedes did not infect her daughter with gonorrhea, is guilty of abuse. The court holds that the res ipsa presumption cannot be extended to presume accessorial conduct and hence support a finding of abuse.

In this case, the parents are charged with physically abusing their daughter when the child was about three years old. At the close of…