Father Leaving Child in Car at Night While in Restuarant

My question involves child abuse or neglect in the State of: South Carolina.

My son (6yrs. old) went for visitation this past weekend. He stated that "daddy left me in the car while everyone else went inside to eat". I asked him why he stated that he fell asleep. When he woke up he couldn't find anyone and started crying. What can or is there anything that I can do about this. My son has to go back for visitation this weekend, which he has already stated that he doesn't want to go. It is court ordered. I feel that I shouldn't send him because of this incident among other incidents that has happened, but do not want to be in contempt either. Any information will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in Advance.

It is court ordered

That is all you need to know.

If the incident didn't prompt you to IMMEDIATELY contact authorities regarding possible child neglect or endangerment as soon as you found out about it, then you really have nothing to take to the court as reason for not following the court's order. Courts work on proof and/or documentation. If you never reported this or any of the other "incidents", then you leave the court nothing to act upon. You can't expect the courts to act upon supposed dangers that YOU haven't acted upon.

I commonly left my children in the asleep when they were young. I always left the car in view and set the alarm system. I'd remind the kids several times to not open the door and set the alarm off. If they had an emergency, jump to the steering wheel and if the vibration sensor does not go off on the way, hit the horn.

Thank you both for responding. To: aardvarc I just found that out about reporting this and I will take it as a lesson learned!! For now on I will be reporting any and all issues that my son brings to my attention. Again thank you for your help. ;)

Be careful not to go from underreporting to overreporting - you don't want to be perceived as a "Chicken Little". At the extreme there are parents who complain, for example, "Dad gave junior Fruit Loops for breakfast" - with the cumulative effect of their complaints over trivial issues properly left to the discretion of the other parent being that their complaints aren't taken very seriously.

Also, "daddy left me in the car while everyone else went inside to eat" could mean one thing if they're at a fine restaurant and it's a two hour dining experience, and could mean quite another if everybody else went into a McDonalds to order carry-out while watching the car through a giant window.