Being Investigated for Physical Child Abuse

[johnpsu84]

My question involves child abuse or neglect in the State of: Pennsylvania

I received a letter in the mail this weekend. In short, it said there had been a report of suspected physical child abuse concerning (my 3yr old son) in which I was named as the alleged perpertrator.

I have custody of my son Fri, Sat, Sun, and Mon with the rest of his time spent 30 miles north with his mother in another city. I have not brought him to see a doctor and I don't have him in a day care facility. I can't imagine where a legitimate complaint would come from, so I suspect his mother may have filed the complaint. She's always finding new ways to cause trouble.

I never hit him and have no criminal history. I thought it would be a good idea to videotape him to show he has no injuries. In the process I asked him if he had any "boo boos" and he said yes and that "mommy did it". I asked him a few more times throughout the day and he keeps repeating "mommy did it" and shows me his bruises. He's 3 so it takes a little bit of coaxing but the response is always the same.

When I think of child abuse I tend to think of Hollywood. Minor cuts, scrapes and bruises are part of growing up and I never gave them a second thought. Now that I'm asking him about his cuts and bruises the response is always "mommy did it". Are the child protective services people going to take what he's saying in this video seriously? I'm sure they'll get the same result if they question him.

I'd love to have custody of my son an maybe her little harassment game backfired on her. Is any of this worth anything to me?

Video: http://s890.photobucket.com/albums/ac107/johnpsu84/

[Dogmatique]

Why are you coaxing your child?

Why, when your child came home with bruises, didn't YOU call CPS immediately?

[johnpsu84]

Why are you coaxing your child?

Why, when your child came home with bruises, didn't YOU call CPS immediately?

He's a 3 year old boy. They play rough and always have bruises. If he had a black eye, busted arm or a belt mark across his back that would be different. He's a happy kid and before today CPS only existed in the movies or in the ghetto.

As far a coaxing him...that may not be the right word. The abuse subject doesn't interest him and his vocabulary is limited. I have no experience interviewing 3 year old kids and he'd rather run around than talk to me about his boo boos.
You can watch the video: http://s890.photobucket.com/albums/ac107/johnpsu84/

It's main purpose was to document my son has no injuries, but during the process he started saying his mother hits him. Is it worth anything?

[LawResearcherMissy]

He's very cute.

And you should take that video down immediately. You're asking him leading questions, and that makes it look like you're manipulating his responses. Such interviews are best left to the pros. I don't expect that to do anything for you but cause problems.

If you're being investigated, you should speak to an attorney - and that right quickly. It's a bad, bad, bad idea to be without counsel when CPS gets involved.