SLO County judge places child in alleged assailant’s home

November 22, 2022

By KAREN VELIE

A San Luis Obispo County family court judge placed a young boy in a home with a woman who allegedly attacked the boy’s mother, and has refused to move the child in spite of a suicide attempt and allegations of negligence and violence, according to court and school records.

Five years ago, when the boy was 14 months old, his parents, who were not married at the time, separated. CalCoastNews is not providing the parents’ names to protect the child. The father, who had issues with substance abuse, did not attempt to see his son for a year after the separation, the child’s mother said.

In 2019, when the mother attempted to move out of area, the father filed for 50-50 custody. A judge at the time refused, giving the mother full custody in San Luis Obispo County, and the father limited visitation.

The father than visited his child three times over six months, while falling $12,000 behind in his child support payments, according to the child’s mother.

Then in Dec. 2020, the mother and father met at the Rite Aid in Atascadero to hand the child over to his father and his new wife, Kate Slater, for a visit.

After the hand off, Slater confronted the mother in the drug store, and backhanded her. The child’s mother dropped her purchases and attempted to leave, but Slater again confronted the child’s mother, struck her and knocked her to the ground, according to the child’s mother.

While Slater beat the woman’s head on the ground, the child’s mother scratched Slater’s face, according to court records.

The child’s mother was transported to a local hospital for treatment of a concussion and a sprained neck.

After viewing surveillance video of the assault, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office filed assault charges against Slater, who is scheduled for a hearing in December on a reduced charge of battery with serious bodily injury. Prosecutors also filed a criminal restraining order prohibiting Slater from coming within 50 yards of the child’s mother.

Judge Matt Guerrero, who also viewed the video, awarded joint legal custody to the parents, while giving the father primary custody at his home in Nevada.

“Judge Guerrero said he did not like the way I looked in the video,” the child’s mother said. “He felt my son was better off in a home with married parents.”

Guerrero also voiced concerns that the child’s mother had refused to allow her son to travel in March 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown, to the father’s Nevada home and that she was interfering with the father’s ability to see his son.

The father said he filed for custody because the child’s mother was not permitting him to see the child for his visitations. The father said he drove to California once a month to visit his son, a claim the mother disagrees with.

Since moving to Nevada in May 2021, the now 6-year-old boy has had problems in school, including behavioral issues, sadness and seeking physical comfort, according to school and court records.

In Dec. 2021, a school staffer reported the child refused to play outside, saying it was “too cold” and he was “gonna freeze” because he did not have a coat. The staffer reported plans to borrow a coat from the school’s lost and found.

The child is currently permitted two Skype calls each week of at least 15 minutes each with his mother. In one of the calls, taped by his mother, the child talks of not feeling safe because of fights between his father and Slater, according to court records.

On Oct. 3, the child’s school informed his mother he had attempted suicide at school.

His mother responded by filing a request for an emergency order in which she begs the court to allow her son to return to her home in Templeton, according to court records.

At a hearing on Oct. 7, Judge Guerrero temporarily denied the request, in order to give the family court facilitator three months to investigate the issues.

Following the Oct. 7 hearing, a Child Protective Services worker in Nevada called the child’s mother to inform her that there is an ongoing investigation into child neglect at the father’s home. The child’s mother asked if the suicide attempt was the catalyst for the CPS investigation, and the worker denied knowing of the child’s attempt at self harm, the child’s mother said.

After CPS opened the neglect case, the father provided the child with a bed instead of a mattress on the floor and filled his closet with used clothing, the child’s mother said. CPS later closed the case, according to a document the father provided.

Clarification: The child’s father provided him his own room more than a month ago. The father says the mother was not allowing him to see his son when he visited San Luis Obispo County.