In Re Lester

OPINION

WEISBERGER, Justice.

On December 19,1977, a physician at the Cranston General Hospital filed “Battered and/or Abused Child Reports” on Francis, then four-and-a-half years old; Elizabeth, then nearly three-and-a-half years old; and Lester, then nearly two-and-a-half years old. The three children are siblings, who, prior to this litigation, resided from time to time with their mother and father and from time to time with relatives or friends. As a result of the physician’s reports, ex-parte orders were issued on December 20, 1977, by a justice of the Family Court giving temporary custody…