Ex has just hurt DS aged 7

Exactly! Well said.

If it was the other way around & mom was accused would people be say call the police. I think get some other info if not from dad then someone who was at the bbq or his parents. If the son had meltdowns before it might be wise to be cautious , if still unhappy with response still call NSPCC they could advise they have a 24hr helpline. None of us know the right course of action only mom knows, she knows the child but also dad if this behaviour out of character.

Why do you say that. She should definitely speak to her ex.

Yes.

You don't think OP is right to simply believe what her son is telling her?

what if he just shouted at him nothing more? You think the police should be called? How will that affect their relationship? Maybe dad is stricter than mom & gets his own way more. There are ‘what if’s ’ we & mom only have info from an upset 7yr old be nice to have some more info.

And you obviously never should!

I’m not far enough through the comments yet, but I already know you’re going to get ripped apart for this one…

absolutely ridiculous thing to say. If a seven year old says they’re assaulted you believe them, not ask the alleged perpetrator whether he did it. 🤦‍♀️

Have you called the Police yet?

👏👏👏

This - young bones are often still growing and stress fractures can occur as a result of vicious twisting of arms etc. your child is also psychologically and emotionally harmed - that needs medical/clinical support now too.

If, as some suggest, DS is being manipulative (and this is unlikely as the Ex didn’t deny it or stope OP from collecting her child), the police and social services are trained to tease this out.

Please go to hospital today to get him properly checked, contact the social services crisis line for help and advice, and if they say you contact the police, you do that too.

Call the cops

It is not for OP or anyone else here to decide whether her DS is lying or being “manipulative”. The Police and SS who are the experts in this will investigate accordingly.

And as for the stories about children “making up” abuse allegations. IME it’s often the rubbish way these are dealt with by adults that cause children to change their story… usually because they are in fear.

Whatever happened, from the description OPs son was terrified.

Psychological trauma?

He assaulted your son.

Wake up.

I haven’t either and I’ve worked with children for over thirty years.
That's not to say I don’t believe your young lad OP because he’s clearly very frightened.

Pardon?

The man is clearly unstable.

Police.

He assaulted your child.

Any further visits should be supervised. He cannot be trusted.

That’s a very grown up thing for a child to say, he never thought he’d have to go through something like this, I dint think I’ve ever heard a child this age speak like that,

Ive been through all this. You MUST call the police and social services at once even if o .arks or it will escalate and you will have zero evidence in court and will be accused of parental alienation and they may take him away from you. It happened to me and I had a hell of a fight to prove what happened. You must report evefy incident.

FFS you need to report it. I reported an incident with my DH, not my ex. He needed support and he got it. You have to report it.

Social services at a minimum. Its not your job to investigate this but you need help to safeguard your son.

Police and social services.

Remember, Your child is going to remember how you respond to this.

you brush this under the rug and he doesn't see you responding to protect him, you are going to damage you relationship with him as much as his dad has.

Can't believe some on here are defending the ex. I really hope those people don't have dc themselves.

Yes, kids can be manipulative. Kids can be out-and-out little shits sometimes. It does NOT justify physical violence towards a child. Nothing does. This little boy is now terrified to be around his father. Nothing he may or may not have done excuses what the father has done.

OP, please report this assault to the police if you haven't already.

Thing is whether DS is telling the truth or not is irrelavant at this point. Your job is to believe him and act accordingly.
We had similar when one of dds friends said her mum was being inappropriate it wasn't our job to work out whether it was true or not so we reported it and the system did its thing.
DS is unlikely to want to go back to his dads, and I certainly wouldn't feel safe sending my son there without official supervision. You need to report it to someone so he can't force visits.