In re X.P. was a mother’s appeal from the Court of Common Pleas’s order finding that her 16-year-old son was dependent and transferring physical and legal custody of the boy to the county’s Children and Youth Services. The Court of Common Pleas found that the mother is a perpetrator of child abuse under 23 Pa.C.S. § 6303(b.1)(3) and that she caused her son’s serious mental injury, as defined in 23 Pa.C.S. § 6303(a). On appeal, the mother claimed she was not the cause of the serious mental injury, instead blaming it on her son’s recent medical diagnosis, school changes, bullying, and other stressors. After detailing the allegations against the mother — including the fact that she told her son that he was to blame for her suicide attempts, the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the lower court’s order, finding that it was supported by clear and convincing evidence.
