In re the Appeal in Pima County Juvenile Action No. S-983

OPINION

HOWARD, Chief Judge.

Appellant, the natural father of C., appeals from an order severing his parental relationship with the child. Appellee, C.’s natural mother, filed the petition for severance alleging that appellant was serving time in the Wilmot Training Facility, Arizona Department of Corrections, for one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault and that he was unfit to parent the minor child because his influence would seriously endanger the child’s physical, mental, moral or emotional health.

Although the juvenile court’s decision antedated Santosky v. Kramer, - U.S. -,…