Are wealthy parents ever prosecuted for child abuse?

[Lemonsugarhigh]

Have seen about a lot of neglectful parents in court recently who have abused their kids. Almost all the cases covered in the press are about very poor families, generally living in pretty dire conditions. But abuse goes on in wealthy homes too, why does this seem to go under the radar? Is it just that SS overlook suffering kids if their parents have cash? Or is it that the parents are better at hiding abuse? Or does the press have a preference for covering the neglect and poverty combination?

This. It simply doesn't happen as much. Rich people truly understand that throwing money at a problem nearly always makes it go away.

I'll Have to read that article properly after the school run but I always wonder how they get that information?

My family never had any intervention from any social services or similar but my house was incredibly abusive. It was a middle class household, 4 bedroom detached house on a quiet street, new cars, holidays etc (which were always held up as an example of what a nice life we had) so nobody really asked many questions when I came to school with bruises or had panic attacks on the bus home.

I guess I'm just saying the information must be skewed in some way as not all abuse is ever found out by any officials.

@TheNameIsDickDarlington

And that is exactly why it’s flawed.

Ex social worker here, I agree that most of the cases were often from deprived backgrounds, however, there were also many from more lucrative backgrounds, they were just as likely to hurt their children however being able to communicate with professionals really helps, (I don't agree with this by they way), but if you're able to convince that it won't happen again and it was due to xyz the social services often just closed the case.

I don't want to generalise but often we had people getting angry and upset, and these were often people who just didn't have the professional skills to play the system in the way that wealthier families could.

I do remember a case where a GP used to shut his 2 year old in the cupboard, in the dark for punishment, he really didn't understand how this would impact his son...
Also, there was a case where other professionals were abusing children, for example, in nursery, these were often ignored (one was putting soap in a toddlers mouth as a punishment, another was a teacher who slapped a child). It all goes on, but there's a lot of mismanagement in social services, its always from the top.

@Whatafustercluck I was thinking about that couple and their poor baby (and their other kids). If I remember correctly the mother seemed to have rejected her wealthy life and had been living in poor conditions in council flats and hostels for the past few years. Although she still had access to cash I think. I guess that's what made the headlines in that story too though, the fact she's essentially aristocracy. It's one extreme or the other that gets attention.

Yes you are absolutely right, data is always open to manipulation, social services only get a very small percentage of abuse cases they are often never recorded or picked up, ever. I am sorry you endured what you did by the way, I am hoping you are ok despite this experience with your family.

I think they are just better at hiding it. Or the kids are more frightened to speak up or when they do speak up they aren't believed or people down play it.

Look at the people who turn to the Stately Homes threads. People who have dysfunctional families who from the outside looking in were normally everyday families who had families trips at weekends.

Just to add. professionals can be easily manipulated by parents who are clever with communication, this is what I saw. I am sure the majority of cases often never get to SS, but believe me, social workers do get stuck in oppositional relationships with parents and these get stuck in the system

It happened twice in our local private prep school. One situation where the father was physically abusive to both kids and their mother. Police got involved when another parent saw the father punching his child in the car.

The other incident involved a mother starving and forcing exercise on her son. She had an eating disorder herself and forced it on him. She would make him run 5k before and after school and barely feed him. SS were called because he was so underweight. He was removed and now lives with his grandparents (dad wasn’t around).

I expect it is easier to hush up when you’re rich though - powerful connections, good lawyers, the ‘right image’, etc.

Rarely. I grew up with money, my father was (is) a monster, and everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, knew. They did nothing, because he was wealthy and powerful. One person reported the bruises on my younger brother and within a month his business was destroyed and no one in town would work with him. The family had to move out of our town, my father ruined him. Especially in tight-knit, church centered communities, child abuse is at best ignored. Most of the adults at the church that spoke to me about my parents shamed me for "making" them abuse me because I was so bad.

It's definitely different for people with money.

Name change for this.

As my pseudo name suggests, I think they rarely get caught from bitter experience.

I’d from a relatively wealthy family and I used to get beaten by my dad a lot. My legs and arms were often bruised or red from a hand mark and I often had lumps on the back of my head. The one time I threatened to report him he just laughed and said they’d never believe me. Of course I never reported any of it.

Ah, right, so anecdotes plus political views is better than the huge systematic review that I posted above?

That’s fascinating. Have you published any papers giving the world the benefit of your superior knowledge? If not you really should.

It's because people who are facing financial hardship on an on-going basis are more likely to snap, or to act irrationally, or to have mental health issues as they are under so much pressure. Wealthy people who might have the same personality traits may never (or rarely) act in extreme ways as they are not pushed into difficult situations as often (or at all).
Basically - put ordinary, functioning human beings under loads of pressure, and some of them might not always be really "nice" as a result. Especially if it happens generation after generation.

EDIT: I'm not making excuses for poor behaviour on the part of parents... Just giving my view why it happens more often when there are multiple sources of stress in their lives. There are horrible people from all walks of life, unfortunately.

I don't think the McCanns are a good example to use because they were in another country at the time the crime was committed and so not subject to British Law.

A better comparison might be made with Hans and Eva Rausings. Imagine if they had been working class.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Kristian_Rausing

@HongKongGarden, it’s obvious that poverty exacerbates neglect/abuse, but what several posters have said is that a report like that, however wide-ranging, can only use data about cases that have come to the attention of social services. Meaning that wealthier people and/or people more capable of dealing with authorities, are likely to be under-represented in the stats because they don’t come to SS attention to be investigated in the first place.

I suspect that where there's money neglect is far less common, eg parents may be ignoring the dcs needs personally but they hire a babysitter/nanny/au pair/send to boarding school to cover their lack of willingness to parent whereas without money parents may simply put dc in front of tv with junk food and possibly go out and leave them.

I know brothers who were dumped in boarding school from age 7 because their parents split up and neither wanted them, that's emotional neglect but they were safe.

Social services don’t only have to look at people who’ve committed acts in the UK. Or even just criminal acts

No, it can also use surveys of adults and ask about abuse which didn’t get reported at the time.

I'll agree with many of the things said on this thread.

However, I do think middle class parents are often more articulate and better able to frame their questionable parenting as being an alternative lifestyle decision.

Working class parent stops sending their child to school and lets them do whatever they like? SS and the education welfare officer are going to be interested, and take a rather dim view of it.

Middle class parent stops sending their child to school and lets them do whatever they like? If they frame it as "unschooling" then the authorities will let them do whatever they like, even if the facts on the ground are fundamentally the same.

No. You should look up Lord Devlin and see the evidence his daughter gave to the enquiry on historic child abuse. She was in her eighties by the time she spoke up. Devlin was one of the finest legal minds and most successful lawyers of his day. It was position of power that protected him in his lifetime and still does to some extent to this day years after death, as his reputation isn't as besmirched as you would expect! His Wikipedia page focuses on his weighty achievements and gives over one paragraph and no detail to what his daughter says he did to her.

What a ridiculous comment. There have been multiple extremely distressing cases of child death by abusive parents in recent years and all of them were known to social services. Kids don't get removed for being left alone for one evening, the bar is so, so much higher than that.

If we’re talking about specific child protection issues, the children had been living with their aunt for years before their mother died, when their parents had gone back to drugs. I mean, it’s a horrible story, and testament to what top lawyers can do if you’re a gazillionaire, but the children weren’t living with their parents when they were far on in addiction.

(I do think that the sheer size and security of the Rausing house meant that a decomposing body wasn’t detectable the way it would have been in a terraced 3-bed. And of course they were wealthy enough to just buy the drugs they needed, not steal to find their habits…)

@MorrisZapp every CP social worker I know has said if the McCanns were from the Gorbals they’d have been met at the airport and their twins removed upon return to the U.K. The reality is their privilege protected them from statutory involvement - I’ve removed a fair few 2/3 year olds who were left home alone while the parents were out drinking.