Do abusers really end up with unsupervised access to their children?

[Capitalsorts]

Just that really, I know the family court is a sh*t show and is extremely draconian. However would the court really grant a father who has abused both mother and child with unsupervised access? Abuse was documented by the local authority and the social worker at the time said it was some of the worst child abuse she'd seen in 15 years of practicing and will haunt her.
Said father is currently having contact centre visits.
How could the assertion be made that he won't harm his child again?

Yes. It’s an unbelievable disgrace.

Yes it happens there are massive horror stories out there

Yes

Yes. Unfortunately it can happen.

Get the best lawyer you can afford.

Yes. The system might rely heavily on women bearing the brunt of the financial and effort burden. But it still has a patriarchal edge shaped to cut children's feelings and safety out of the equation.

Yes. More often than not

Can only suggest keep all the evidence, witness statements you can.
I think at access visits there’s someone present who makes notes, how well parent interacts etc…

All I can think of is the longer you can hold him off, the older the children are going to get and they can make their own decisions, hopefully not to have unsupervised contract.

I've read horror stories about cafcass, but so far they've been very protective of both my DD and I.
I just know I could never see or face him or his family ever again in my entire life. He terrifies me.

You mean by the same services that went to a family I had reported as a professional teenager disclosed her father sexually abusing her. They got back to me soon Ed interview the girl with her father in the next fucking room and all too surprisingly she denied saying anything.

Read this heart breaking story of this poor little lad. Parents had supervised visits and the abuse continued. It is truly shocking.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10299983/Magical-moment-Royals-met-brave-Bear-walked-prosthetic-legs-raise-1-6m.html

Yes all the time.

I know of a case where the father was convicted and spent several years in prison for abusing his daughter but on release sought contact and the mum was threatened with reversal of residency if she didn't encourage and facilitate contact.

Father's rights trump child protection

It's insanity. It really is.

Yes, apparently fathers rights rather than responsibility trumps everything. It's terrifying and why some women stay in abusive relationships.

They say its about the child's rights to have a relationship with their father but it often is just to allow further abuse.

What about a child's right to be safe.. Isn't that of paramount importance?

[quote notangelinajolie]Read this heart breaking story of this poor little lad. Parents had supervised visits and the abuse continued. It is truly shocking.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10299983/Magical-moment-Royals-met-brave-Bear-walked-prosthetic-legs-raise-1-6m.html[/quote]
God that's horrifying, how do people do that to poor little babies? It fucking breaks me when my son cried when he rolls over too quick and gently bumps his head, I can't imagine the sound that baby made.

@Capitalsorts

What about a child's right to be safe.. Isn't that of paramount importance?

Surprisingly no I read a story about a man who cut the mums throat badly infront of the children miraculously she survived he was sent to prison HOWEVER he was given letterbox contact with his children and was pushing courts to force her to bring the children in for visits the courts directed her to hand over her actual address to the man who tried his hardest to kill her I believe she managed to get it so a family members address was used instead of hers but they fought it he had the right to be involved in there lives despite trying to kill the mother infront of them

I sometimes wonder what happened in the end

This has always bothered me: how do you find the best lawyer you can afford?

How do you actually know which lawyers are the best ones?

Is there a legal version of CheckATrade or a Trust Pilot of barrister Chambers??

@BobbieT1999

This has always bothered me: how do you find the best lawyer you can afford?

How do you actually know which lawyers are the best ones?

Is there a legal version of CheckATrade or a Trust Pilot of barrister Chambers??

There is a website called Legal 500 which has this information. I don’t know how they rank law firms though, not sure if they can pay to be included

In 2016 Womens Aid published the following report about 19 children killed by their fathers during or when contact had been allowed. It makes harrowing reading and things have moved on with the domestic abuse bill coming into play in 2021 but there is still a long way to go. Child first is the womens aid campaign around safe contact or no contact for children where there is a clear indication of domestic abuse. I can’t link but google womens aid 19 child homicides child first campaign

OP, I think I'm right in saying you've posted multiple threads along the same lines recently under different names. Your situation is terrible. This is meant kindly: it's not helpful for you to keep asking different versions of the same question. Unfortunately no one can tell you exactly what will happen in your particular situation. I do hope you get the best outcome and I understand why you are looking for reassurance and are in a panic, but it's possibly doing more harm than good for you. We're here to support you, but we can't see into the future for you and give you a definitive answer however many times you ask.

OP - abusers of children do not always end up being allowed contact with children, but it could (and does) happen. I know two families where, following private law proceedings, the judge ruled indirect contact only. In both cases police were investigating the abuse. The children were all >10

Sadly yes they sometimes do, I agree with a lot of comments above and my ex was certainly given free reign to continue emotional abuse for years against my wishes, however you are off to a good start to fight it if social services have documented direct and significant abuse to the child directly.

This happens there's a documentary on dispatches about it well worth a watch. Because the children's courts are kept closed actually means that this can happen regularly.

Advice from lawyers in my family is - abuse needs to ideally be witnessed by independent party and (documented of at all possible) otherwise it's a he said she said and you may be accused of parental alienation even if SS have documented the abuse (you will be accused of using SS services as a weapon). You have to treat so carefully, many abusive men use the courts as a arm of there abusiveness.

Which is madness give most children won't want to spend time a abusive person and you want to keep your child safe.

Op you are really identifiable no matter how many times you name change.

You really need to be careful posting here.

Also, you keep asking the same questions but you never seem to move forward in yourself. You would probably really benefit from counselling.

The only person who can tell you what contact your ex is going to get is the judge. He or she will make that determination on sight of all the evidence and arguments presented by you and your ex, as well as reports from independent experts such as SW and CAFCASS.

Starting repetitive threads here when we do not have the information needed to make that determination will not be ever able to give you an answer.