Prosecution of abusive parents

[Whatifsandwhy]

I'm musing from a theoretical perspective. I was thinking about how parents rarely answer to the law when they have abused or neglected children. Only the most tragic cases seem to ever reach court.

Does the law allow historical prosecutions (I know if does for sex abuse - I mean for other types of abuse).

I also wonder why more parents are not prosecuted when children have been removed from the home.

Does anyone have experience in this area? Or just thoughts generally.

Most children come into the care system through neglect. Neglect is tricky when it come to the law because it more often than not isn't deliberate harm but a consequence of one or (more often) a combination of addiction, mental health issues, learning disability or the parent having been so poorly parented themselves that they literally have no idea how to look after a child. It's hard to believe but often these parents really are trying their best. So unless v extreme (eg leaving the child unattended for a lengthy period) a prosecution for neglect is unlikely. This applies past and present.

Physical abuse is different bc unlike sexual abuse it was legal in the past (again, unless v extreme). You can only prosecute a historical act if it was illegal when it was committed. So hitting with a belt could be prosecuted now but not if it happened 50 years ago as it was widely accepted then. Corporal punishment was legal until 1986!

That's useful thanks. Do social services lawyers routinely consider whether a parent should also be prosecuted. I suppose there is little to be gained if children have been removed.

Its a good point about historic cases. Not sure why I didn't think about what was legal in the past. I expect pretty much anything went in terms of physical assault within the home in the 70s and 80s.

Ime social services' lawyers aren't involved in the decision to prosecute,it's the police who would pass the case to the CPS to make a decision. The social services lawyers remit is the child coming into care, what happens to the parents is not their concern. Police usually do try for a prosecution, physical abuse is often prosecuted now if there is sufficient evidence. You can have a scenario where the family court judge believes physical abuse has taken place so the child is taken into care, but there is not enough evidence to meet the "beyond reasonable doubt" burden of proof for prosecution.