SD witness to domestic violence

[The_Non-Mom]

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

This is a little off topic for this forum, but I hope that you will bear with me.

This past Sunday, the Little Girl was raking leaves for a neighbor. She has raked leaves for this person before, and Dad and I know the guy. About half an hour after I walked her down to the guy's house (a couple blocks away), she came running home crying. I asked her what was wrong, but she was crying so hard I could hardly understand her. What I got out of it was that she was raking and some people started yelling at her and she thought they were going to get violent!

I was so furious that someone would yell at the Little Girl and make her cry that I was going to talk to them myself (Dad was working OT, so I was the only one home). I told the Little Girl to get in the car and we drove down to the neighbor's house (yes, I am lazy). By the time we got to the guy's house, there were already four cop cars there. I got out of the car and asked an officer what was going on. I explained about the Little Girl raking leaves and getting yelled at.

It turns out that the guy's ex came over and started making a bunch of trouble: yelling, throwing things, etc. (So no one was actually yelling AT her, but she was still quite scared.) The officer took a statement from the Little Girl and told her everything was going to be okay. He said they were going to arrest the guy's ex because it was wrong for her to start trouble and that she did the right thing by leaving the situation and telling an adult.

I took the Little Girl home and she was pretty shaken up. She chilled on the couch for the rest of the day and told Dad all about it when he came home. She hasn't mentioned it since. Today, Dad got a packet in the mail from the police dept. with information regarding being a victim/witness to domestic violence as well as an overview of this specific case, etc. It also includes a form that a child witness can fill out to send to the judge. It asks questions about what she saw, how it made her feel, and what she thinks should be the person's punishment.

So the question is - Does Dad show her the packet? Should the Little Girl fill out the questionaire for the judge? Or should he just let it go?

 

[Rushia]

In my nonlegal opinion, I would say that she should fill it out. Perhaps it will help her remember in the future that DV is NOT something that she should put up with.

Did he tell her mother what happened? I think that he should discuss it with her as well.

 

[Isis1]

In my nonlegal opinion, I would say that she should fill it out. Perhaps it will help her remember in the future that DV is NOT something that she should put up with.

Did he tell her mother what happened? I think that he should discuss it with her as well.

i absolutely agree!!!

 

[The_Non-Mom]

In my nonlegal opinion, I would say that she should fill it out. Perhaps it will help her remember in the future that DV is NOT something that she should put up with.

Did he tell her mother what happened? I think that he should discuss it with her as well.

I feel that she should fill it out too. I think it will help bring closure and make her feel like she has a hand in bringing this person to justice. Dad is worried that it will make her upset again.

I was actually the one that told Mom about the incident. Dad called and basically said "There was a situation but StepMom has more info so would you mind if I put her on the phone?". Mom and Dad (and I) have been getting along well lately after the recent rough patch, so it was all okay. I haven't yet told Mom about the packet of info since we just got it today.

 

[Rushia]

I feel that she should fill it out too. I think it will help bring closure and make her feel like she has a hand in bringing this person to justice. Dad is worried that it will make her upset again.

I was actually the one that told Mom about the incident. Dad called and basically said "There was a situation but StepMom has more info so would you mind if I put her on the phone?". Mom and Dad (and I) have been getting along well lately after the recent rough patch, so it was all okay. I haven't yet told Mom about the packet of info since we just got it today.

Tell DH how you feel and then have him call Mom and get her opinion (have Dh tell her the same reasoning that we have) and then they can make that decision.