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Criminal case/child abuse pretrial questions

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Anjelita

Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

See original post for more info: https://forum.freeadvice.com/child-custody-visitation-37/seeking-full-custody-due-abuse-470564.html

My 8 yr old son was abused during a weekend visit with his father at the end of May 09 (this was the first time he was abused by him, but it was bad!). He suffered a ruptured eardrum and several bruises on his body. He was abused for two entire days, it wasn't a one time hit. I took him to the ER where the docs all said his wounds collaborated with what he said took place that weekend. I have all of his medical records from that visit. I went right away to seek emergency custody (which I was granted), and I currently am awaiting a custody trial in Dec. in which I am seeking sole custody. His father is having every other weekend visits with him at the supervised court nursery.

DHS was of course notified right away and after investigating, found his father guilty of child abuse (status "INDICATED", he is of course appealing this).

I also went to our special victims unit right after the ER where the detective took our statements - my son did give a detailed statement. The detective called in my son's father for questioning, where he admitted that he did hit him, but not hard enough to sustain the wounds that he had (he said the same thing to DHS). FINALLY after three long months I rec'd a subpeona for a pre-trial, his father is finally being charged! (the papers didn't say what exactly they were charging him with, but the detective from SVU had said aggravated assault to a minor.) The pre-trial is tomorrow, and I am very nervous. I have to bring my son, and was told that he might need to testify in front of his father. I am not sure if he will testify or not, as he has "selective mutism". I don't even know what a pre-trial really is, the DA said he would explain everything tomorrow. Has my son's father already been arrested and charged?

He already admitted that he did hit him to both DHS and the SVU. However, he is claiming that he could have gotten the ruptured eardrum and bruises anywhere (the medical records say otherwise), his custody lawyer actually LAUGHED at our emergency custody hearing saying it was "just a one time thing, it's not like it's gona happen again!" - GRRR!!.

So, I have the Doctors, DHS, and the Special Victims Unit Detective that are all ready to testify against him (and hopefully my son will be willing to speak in front of everyone!).

My questions:

Does he have a shot at getting out of this somehow?

If my son doesn't testify, can they still press charges (he did give a statement to the detective, and I have a letter from his Doc about his selective mutism)?

What is the punishment for aggravated assault to a minor in PA? (what's the max/least punishment he could be given?)

If he is charged, will this help out my custody case?

Should I have my lawyer there, or will the DA take care of everything?

Any advice would be awesome, I JUST got the subpeona on Saturday, haven't been able to get ahold of my lawyer due to the holiday, and I am law clueless as I've never been in any major legal situations.

Thank you so much!
 


Proserpina

Senior Member
Does he have a shot at getting out of this somehow?
Yes, there's a chance. An incredibly slim chance but we've seen strange things happen in courtrooms. Don't fret about it though - it's very, very, very, very unlikely.

If my son doesn't testify, can they still press charges (he did give a statement to the detective, and I have a letter from his Doc about his selective mutism)?
Yes. They do not need your son's testimony, though it will undoubtedly help. You could possibly even try and have your son heard in chambers instead of open court.

What is the punishment for aggravated assault to a minor in PA? (what's the max/least punishment he could be given?)
That's not easy to guesstimate - there could be more than a few mitigating or aggravating circumstances.

If he is charged, will this help out my custody case?

Should I have my lawyer there, or will the DA take care of everything?
Very likely, yes. Put it this way - it's not going to help Dad. Also if you have an attorney it wouldn't hurt to have him there.

Any advice would be awesome, I JUST got the subpeona on Saturday, haven't been able to get ahold of my lawyer due to the holiday, and I am law clueless as I've never been in any major legal situations.

Thank you so much!
Stay calm, keep your head and stick with your attorney. You'll do fine.
 

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