My ex left me 10 years ago following years of DV. Our child was a toddler at the time, now a teenager.
As a brief back story our marriage disintegrated when I fell pregnant as he became incredibly abusive and then violent. He assaulted me multiple times when I was pregnant and threatened to remove our child from me. I never reported it to the police as I did not want to lose my child. I had pre-natal depression (which he claimed made me unfit as a mother) and every medical issue caused by pregnancy in the book. I was admittedly difficult and emotional. I later discovered he had been having an affair which led to our relationship only deteriorating further. He left me multiple times during the pregnancy, and after only to return - until he finally left to move in with his mistress. He then took me to court to get residence on the basis I was mentally unstable/unfit. I did not disclose his abuse or seek to make it relevant to contact. Unfortunately, the police became involved 6 months later as he assaulted me during a contact handover, leading to social services getting involved and my being forced to disclose his abuse ( the social worker told me I could lose my child if I failed to disclose abuse and it put her at risk). Long story short, the court gave me residence and him minimal contact. I thought it would all end. I was wrong.
I never wanted our child to know any of this information so have always told her that we mutually agreed to separate as we did not love each other anymore. She knew nothing of the horrific things her Father did, nor of his continued abuse towards me as I did not fell this was information she needed or should have. I have always wanted her to form her own relationship with her Father, on her own terms, based on her own experience.
The abuse towards me has continued in the form of harassment, further legal action, accusations of alienation, manipulating our child & emotionally abusing our child. Our child has been in counselling for years at the request of various professionals to help her cope with her Father's behaviour towards her.
Last night, out of the blue, my daughter (now a teenager) began to question me regards the past - how we split up, her Father's involvement in my pregnancy, her birth etc. Her questions were very specific and blunt - among other things she asked me if he every hurt me and if he left me and if he was still nasty to me. I tried to evade the questions but she was determined to get an answer out of me. She told me to not lie to her and that she had a right to know the truth as she put it. I could not persuade her to drop it and the more I wouldn't answer her questions, the more she persisted. I did not want to lie to her, so answered truthfully giving the absolute minimum information I could.
I am in shock and absolutely petrified. My ex husband has been attempting to have our child removed from my care for 6 years on the basis of my ''alienating'' him and finished the last round of legal involvement only 6 months ago. The court and social workers involved have until now dismissed his claims I am alienating him but I am now petrified that having answered these questions I will be seen to have alienated him.
Does anyone have any experience of situations like this and how the court or social services would respond?