Know Your Rights in Colorado as a Divorced Parent When You Suspect Your Ex is Abusing Your Child
Nothing is more concerning than being worried about your children's safety, especially when you feel the threat to their well-being is their other parent. If you think your child is in immediate danger of grave harm because he or she is currently with your ex, contact emergency services immediately. If you suspect your ex is abusing your child, but you are not sure what is going on or do not have any proof yet, here's what you need to know.
What Counts As "Child Abuse" in Colorado?
Overall, any behavior or action by a parent that threatens the physical or mental health of a child is considered abuse. While you may think of bruises and broken bones when you hear the term "child abuse," verbal abuse that is emotionally damaging to a child counts, too. Neglect--when a parent isn't caring for a child's basic needs--is another type of child abuse.
Child abuse is taken very seriously by the Colorado courts, and for a good reason: children are very vulnerable and generally cannot protect themselves from adults. While a parent's rights to his or her child are held as fundamental and protected by law, a child's safety and well-being comes before anything else. Because of this, a parent who is abusing a child can lose all--or some--of his or her parental rights to that child. Once parental rights are terminated, that parent no longer has the right to see his or her child or make any decisions for the child.
What Should I Do If I Believe My Ex is Abusing Our Child?
As noted above, if you have a reason to believe your ex is harming your child right now, contact emergency services immediately to ensure your child is safe. You must contact the police when there is a very real and present threat of danger to your child's health and well-being. If you fail to do so, your child could end up injured or even worse. It will also be harder to demonstrate to the court that abuse has occurred if you do not have any formal reports indicating it has.
If you currently have your child and are concerned about the possibility of abuse in the future during visits or parenting time spent with your ex, you need to take action right away. Contact an attorney for help with presenting your case to the court to restrict your ex's parenting time until the matter is resolved. Although you may want to, you cannot simply withhold parenting time right now, even if you are positive abuse has occurred. The time your ex is supposed to have with your child is part of a court order, and violating that order can land you in serious trouble, even if you feel your actions are justified.
Your attorney will draft paperwork for your action to restrict your ex's parenting time that explains your beliefs and provides evidence of these allegations. This evidence may include medical records, reports from the police, and testimonies from those who can speak about the abuse, such as a friend or relative who witnessed an incident. If you haven't already done so, gather all the evidence of the abuse you can for your attorney, including any photos or videos of your child's injuries or an abusive incident.
Once you have taken action in court, your case will be investigated to see if your allegations have merit. Typically, further investigation is only necessary when the Department of Human Services becomes involved. They may be contacted by the party or by the court when there is a possibility of a Dependency and Neglect (D & N) action filed by the juvenile court. It is important to note only this type of action can lead to termination of parental rights. In the scenario that a D & N case is filed, investigators for the court may talk to neighbors, family members, friends, and other people in your child's life to uncover what has been going on. If an attorney represents your ex, they may request to have your child interviewed as well, depending on your child's age and ability to handle such an interview.
There are many factors that will play a role in the final decision in your case. When assessing if the child involved is capable of testifying, the court will consider the actual evidence of abuse, your child's age, your child's maturity level, and the child's ability to determine the difference between the truth and a lie. It is important to note that this only occurs in a scenario where there has been a criminal action filed against the parent in question. The judge will also review what actions you have taken in this situation so far. The latter is why you must be careful to avoid violating existing court orders except in extreme cases, such as you walking in on your ex beating your child and immediately calling the police. Suppose the court determines you are making false allegations to get more parenting with your child and lessen or eliminate your ex's parenting time. In that case, you may find yourself losing parenting time and paying your ex's attorney fees.