In re the Guardianship of K.R.J.

State: Illinois

Court: Illinois Southern District Court

Docket No: 4100454

Case Date: 11/15/2010

Preview: NO. 4-10-0454

IN THE APPELLATE COURT

OF ILLINOIS

FOURTH DISTRICT

In re: the Guardianship of K.R.J., a)

Minor, )

KEITH WILLIAM PETERSON and KATHERINE )

MARIE PETERSON,)
Petitioners-Appellants,)

v. )

GENE JOSEPH JENSEN,)
Respondent-Appellee,)
and )

KIMBERLY STARK, )
Respondent. )

Filed 11/15/10

Appeal from
Circuit Court of
Champaign County
No. 06P221

Honorable
Brian L. McPheters,
Judge Presiding.

PRESIDING JUSTICE MYERSCOUGH delivered the opinion of
the court:

Petitioners, Keith William Peterson and Katherine Marie
Peterson, are the maternal stepgrandfather and grandmother of

K.R.J.
(born December 28, 2000). Petitioners filed a petition
for guardianship of K.R.J., alleging that K.R.J.'s parents,
respondents, Gene Joseph Jensen and Kimberly Stark, were unable
to make and carry out day-to-day child-care decisions concerning

K.R.J.
The allegations pertaining to Gene centered around Gene's
treatment of Gene's two sons and Kimberly's daughter. In January
2009, Kimberly was defaulted and is not a party to this appeal.

In June 2010, following a series of evidentiary
hearings, the trial court found Gene's sons and Kimberly's
daughter lacked credibility. The court concluded that

petitioners failed to rebut the presumption that Gene was able to
make and carry out day-to-day child-care decisions concerning

K.R.J. Petitioners appealed.

This court finds the trial court's factual findings
were not against the manifest weight of the evidence and that the
court did not err by finding petitioners failed to rebut the
presumption that Gene was able to make and carry out day-to-day
child-care decisions concerning K.R.J. Therefore, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

In August 2006, petitioners filed a verified petition
for guardianship of K.R.J. The petition alleged that Gene was
unable to make and carry out day-to-day child-care decisions
concerning K.R.J. because Gene had his two sons, Robert and
Raymond, removed from his care in a juvenile court proceeding and
tortured Kimberly's daughter, B.S.

In February 2007, the trial court dismissed the
petition with prejudice. The court found petitioners failed to
allege sufficient facts that Gene and Kimberly were unable to
make and carry out day-to-day child-care decisions concerning

K.R.J. Petitioners chose not to replead and appealed.

This court reversed and remanded. In re K.R.J., No. 4

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