NSW Family Court - Children Withheld Due to Sexual Assault Allegations

[Lucie Harp]

Hi guys,

I've seen some excellent opinions given on this forum so I would like to share my story in the hopes of getting help and support.

My five-year-old daughter told me that my step-father has sexually assaulted her. I went to the police and told my mother. My mother then went to the father of my older boys and encouraged him to withhold them from me and not return them after the Christmas holidays.

In addition, I have a seven-month-old to a different man who has threatened and hounded and bullied me since I fell pregnant. He has taken this opportunity to initiate proceedings, using the same lawyer as the older boys, but he is not listed on a birth certificate.

They have both lied to avoid Family Dispute Resolution and are making claims based on my mother and her partner's word. I have not seen the 8 and 10-year-old boys who I have been the primary carer for since birth, nor has their little sister and she had to start school without them there to share it.

Interim proceedings have seen all children remain where they are living with the father to arrange phone contact from the boys to me and we are supposed to be " discussing between us when the children will see their mother". I have a feeling that the judge set this up so he would show himself to be unreasonable.

I think she sees the truth of what has happened, but in the meantime my boys are suffering and there is still no word on when I might see them, if they have been sexually abused themselves by said offender or how they are. The father has breached orders twice already in regards to the phone contact, but I can't get my contravention application before the family court before Monday morning at best.

Any thoughts/opinions extremely appreciated.

 

[AllForHer]

My first question is, are you doing anything to guarantee the step-father is kept away from your kids?

 

[Lucie Harp]

I applied for urgent recovery orders, but before they got heard, their father had already exposed them to him. Judge made interim orders preventing it again, he has enroled them in a new school near where the offender lives and I am terrified every day for them.

He breached interim orders by failing to facilitate phone contact with me and as part of my affidavit, I have asked that the recovery orders be enacted immediately and outlined my concerns but I have to deliver it to court in person on Monday and I'm not sure I'll be able to.

 

[AllForHer]

An affidavit isn't for asking that orders be enacted. It's for providing your evidence supporting your case for what's in the best interests of the children.

I'm a bit unclear about some things here. Was it *your* stepfather who assaulted the child? What does the children's father have to do with your stepfather? Are the police conducting an investigation? If the children are returned into your care, what provisions are you imposing to ensure the children aren't exposed to that risk again?

 

[Lucie Harp]

It's pretty complex. It is my stepfather who assaulted my daughter. The children's father routinely asks my mother and stepfather for babysitting and frequently leaves the children in their care.

Yes, the police are conducting and investigation. If the children are returned to me, I will not expose the children to my mother or my stepfather at all. The father, since being made aware of the allegations, has already had the children spend time with my mother and my stepfather, and has now had to be restrained by the court to prevent him from doing it again.

 

[AllForHer]

What's the relationship like between you and the fathers? And what's the relationship like between the children and the fathers? What's the history of care arrangements?