Reporting DDs dad for assault

[Rantingling]

DD disclosed to me her dad hit her. She's 7. Dad has a history of being abusive and child abuse but court decided to progress contact. I had the conversation with DD to make sure she was absolutely certain before I called the police. Called 101 who have categorised a common assault. DD was able to give a statement by herself and articulated exactly what happened. My worry is lack or evidence as she doesn't have any marks ex. Is this a low level common assault where its just her word against him? What are the chances of the cps progressing this?

Anyone who has been in similar circumstances your advice would be welcome.

I'm afraid I don't have any experience. But I would make social services aware too.

What country are you in? Slightly different laws for England which has a legal loophole for 'reasonable punishment', where it'll depend on context and proportionality. But very generally, no mark left is unlikely to lead to any police action.

But your better recourse here is through social services. It's highly likely police will refer the incident to them, but if they don't you should probably report it directly them.

I had a similar issue when I was a child. My stepdad assaulted my brother and we reported it to the police when custody changed hands. Unfortunately the assault had been a week or two before the police came out to talk to us. This meant there were no marks and it was my brother's word against his. My brother and my dad pushed for a conviction, but my brother was only 13 at the time and the police dropped the case I think after only one day in court cos they said there wasn't enough evidence.

The Crown Prosecution Service may feel differently about your case and I'm not saying they will simply dismiss it. But given my personal history with them I can't help but think its likely.

In your position what I'd do is push the criminal conviction as much as you can and use any evidence you can get in the family proceedings with contact arrangements. Tell the court that you've contacted the police and how that progresses. Listen to your child. If they don't want to go to contact because of this raise that with the solicitor and the court. If there's a history of this in your past relationship mention that. Push for supervised contact so your child isn't alone with Dad and this can't happen again (especially if this would genuinely make your child feel more comfortable and safe with him). I would also push for Dad to go on a court mandated domestic abuse course, especially if there's any danger of this happening again.

This is not legal advice but just my opinion based on my similar experience tho

Sadly it does sound like there is not enough evidence to bring about an actual charge and sentence. But it will be logged which will be useful if there are further incidents.