What can my ex do if my son runs away?

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Ohio
This past August my almost 13 yr old son ran away from his dads house. He called me from a 24 hour store up the street at 10:30 at night and asked me to come pick him up. When I got there I didn't know what else to do but take him to the police station. While we were there the police officer told my son he was being "unruly" and when my ex finally got there to pick him up he told my son that if he runs away again he will call juvenile court and have something done to him! First of all my son wasn't being unruly, he ran away because he HATES my ex's new wife. My husband and I have no problems with him. My ex's wife said it was because "they are the only one's that discipline him", which is a joke, we just choose not to use force, and in my opinion, violence as a way to do it. She has knocked my son to the floor and ripped a necklace off of him, tried to shove breakfast in his mouth because he was full and couldn't eat it all and stepped on his hand because he wasn't listening to her. My ex is absolutely NO help in this matter. When he met her she had money and he had nothing and he gave up just about everything for her. Including his son. When she ripped the necklace off it was after he told my son he was going to let her! My ex's own Mom told me how badly they treat my son. What rights does my son have against this witch? If he were to run away again and his dad did call someone what would they do? Wouldn't they investigate why my son ran away? We've told my son to fight back when she does stuff like this to him.

He could call CPS.

Fighting back is about the worst advice you could give him, IMO.

If he's being abused, CPS or the police are the best bet. As Stealth mentioned, telling him to fight back was bad advice he could go to jail/juvenile hall for battery. Whose version of events are the police likely to believe?

If things are this bad, then he needs to tell someone. It doesn't mean anything will happen, but at least something will get rolling.

And if you provide a haven for him you and your new husband could find yourself on the wrong end of criminal charges as well. Bringing him right away to the police station was the right move.

And the police do NOT have the resources to investigate why every kid runs away from home ... there just is not enough time to do that. And since these are generally not criminal issues, there is really little reason to delve into the matter.

- Carl

I actually told him to stand up for himself. I told him to make her feel bad for the way she treats him by telling her that what she is doing is wrong and that he will tell me and I will in turn tell CS. But I'm not optimistic about that either. When she knocked him to the ground and ripped that necklace off of him and left scratch marks down his throat they basically told me that it was his fault because they told him to take the necklace off. My thinking was it wasn't their necklace to ask him to take off, let alone use violence to get it off of him! It was a gift from his grandfather so it belonged to him not them, and she broke it ripping it off! But they are pros at the possession game. My son is not allowed to wear or take a single item that he has at their house, but they are more than willing to keep anything they feel like that he is freely allowed to take and wear from my house. What I need to know is IF my son ever runs away from their house again can his dad have him put "in juvenile" without me having some say in it and won't they investigate WHY he ran away?

Also the whole telling someone about the situation does no good. We went to court last fall and my son had a GAL. Despite the fact my son told him over and over again that he did not like it at his dads house and wanted to live with me AND the fact the GAL even admitted to personally witnessing my ex's violent behavior, he STILL recommended my son be with him every other week! Thank goodness the judge didn't agree, but my son still has to spend the summer at their house and if she does anything to him I have to wait up to 2 weeks before I will know about it because they don't allow us to have phone contact when he's there!

Your child is old enough to call 911 when he is being physically assulted, then the police will interceed, if it is as you say. If need be, have him call from outside the home. If he is not able, call as soon as he returns to your custody. Perhaps you need a modification that prevents step mom from physicial contact or is another injury, or a restraining order against her. Perhaps allowing a restricted use cel phone if he needs to call you or the police? They have to see evidence of the injuries. Don't provoke anything, your son should not sass or talk back or make threats, if something happens, call the police. Don't allow him to wear anything there that will cause an issue, keep his valuables at your home. Document and go back to court with your evidence, don't make it worse by encouraging him to be defiant.

By letting my son take stuff to his dads I'm trying to show him that's the way it should be. (Before this freak came into the picture my ex and I had keys to each other's houses and EVERYTHING went back and forth because that was what was easiest for our son and it certainly didn't hurt my ex or me.) And nothing he takes is valuable and even the necklace she ripped off of him only cost $4.97 at Wal-Mart! We have discussed sending a cell phone but we know they will take it away from him and we'll never see it again! I guess I just have to face facts that I'm dealing with a different breed of people here. I was raised differently and for three years I thought my ex and I agreed on how we would get along for the sake of our son. But that was before super freak came into the picture...what do you do??? Can't shoot her, can I??? LOL!!! My son doesn't have much faith in the system either. He had a GAL basically listen to everything and still wanted to throw him back to the lion's den, when he runs away, which was his way of trying to let someone know something was wrong, he was labeled "unruly" and when she violently rips a necklace off of him he was told it was his fault! I just don't want him to grow up thinking their behavior is acceptable, which he knows from my husband and I, but it's hard to just sit back and tell him to live with it. Can I call child services and report her or do I have to have an attorney?