WA Falsely Accused of Depression and Child Abuse - What to Do?

[Corruptlawsystem]

Hi.

I'm currently having to go through family court with the father of my son. I was falsely accused of depression and being suicidal as a result of domestic violence by current ex-partner (not son's father) when he came to collect our son for the weekend. All these allegations are false. There was only a verbal argument between my current ex-partner which left me very upset.

The father of our son's partner then said very aggressively in my face as she was leaving "we won't be returning him until you're in a better mind state."

This obviously caused a physical fight between us two, because truth be told, you don't say that to a mother when you have no right. My son was not present.

They then called police after they had left to do a welfare check on me because I'm suicidal. This automatically raises concerns with police to inform dpcfs because I have always been the primary carer, especially when its followed with false child abuse allegations. They purposely harmed my son to make me look bad (I have proof to back me up).

After 12hrs of having no reply when I asked when he was returning our son home, I went to go talk to him. Much to my disgust, I discovered his whole house packed. When I confronted him about having no intention of telling me about moving and not letting our son ever see me again and vise versa, his father said "no sorry you're not seeing him"

The door was slammed in my face. My dad retaliated and kicked the door in.

They were making a run for the back fence with my son and his partner. They threw my son to his father on the opposite side but didn't quite clear it, injuring his back. My mum managed to grab my son but with force.

I got in yet another fight with his partner but in front of two innocent children, one being my child screaming for me as he was being pulled over the fence. My mum ended up with my son in her arms after his father let go. We left.

Cops were called, dcpfs were called. I took my son to pmh and spent 16 hrs there not knowing his father had filed false allegations of child abuse on the Friday. The hospital automatically assumed I harmed my son. I've done nothing but cooperate because I'm innocent.

I was not served with any documents for any court hearings. I was phone linked to a court hearing 3 days later. Not given a chance to respond at all whatsoever and to make it worse I was under arrest for suspicion of being a suspect to assault and aggravated burglary 5 mins after I was phone linked and told I had less than two hrs to get to the court or they would hear it via phone link.

I'm being charged because of Sunday's incident and couldn't get to the court because the cops wouldn't do the bail which looks disgustingly bad on me. Father got interim custody. Recover order effective immediately.

I wasn't even given a chase to say boo. I'm not to have any contact what so ever for 3 months until next court hearing. I get that there were other ways to have my son returned to me but I had no intention of Sunday going the way it did. I went there civil and calm and it feels as if this has all been planned.

I have proof that I have not abused my son nor do I suffer from depression or domestic violence. I have legit reasons for not being able to attend the hearing I was not aware of. What the hell can I do?

I have legal advice booked for a few days time but need any help I can get.

 

[AllForHer]

So, first, I'm glad you're getting legal advice for this. Family law is a very complex body of law, so I'm just going to share some of the information that might be most pertinent to your case.

In Family Court, the child's best interests are paramount, which are outlined in section 60CC of the Family Law Act. There are two primary considerations and fourteen secondary considerations. The first primary consideration is the benefit to the child of having a meaningful relationship with each parent, the second is the need to protect the child from an unacceptable risk of harm caused by violence, abuse or neglect.

You've said your son was exposed to an argument with your current ex, was grabbed by your mother, saw your father kick in his dad's front door, and witnessed an all-round altercation caused by you when you went to the father's house with your parents in tow to recover the child instead of following the proper avenues.

I also understand from the facts that you had a verbal fight with one person and a physical fight with another. It is immaterial that you have never directly struck your son, all the father needs to show is that you pose an unacceptable risk to his safety and well-being. With the assault charges being laid, it sounds like dad might have some persuasive evidence to support that argument.

The Court might also be concerned if you present without any insight about your own role in the dispute and how your actions affect your son. This is often a turning point in family law cases, so rather than proclaim innocence and wait for justice to be served in your favour, it might be a more productive option to accept responsibility for your actions and plot a pathway for improving the situation.

The Court might, for example, order you to attend a post separation parenting course or attend on a psychologist for an assessment. It might be prudent to do these things in the meantime anyway, as a way of showing you are eager to improve the situation.

 

[nat 2015]

I think even if you do have depression its not a reason for children to be taken away nor does it make you a bad mum. My ex is trying to do the same to me at the moment. I do suffer from depression and have regular counselling. My depression extends from my abusive relationship with my ex.

I think your ex needs to be looked at closely too.

 

[AllForHer]

I agree that depression is not a good enough reason alone to have a child's relationship with one parent severed. Indeed, getting counselling for said depression means you have insight and motivation to address the problem.

However, the original post suggests there are risk factors at play here other than just depression.