What are the Possible Outcomes of a False Child Abuse Case

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Ohio

I'll keep this short as I can. I am just looking for any suggestions others may have that would help us.

We have an unusual case in which even the prosecutor does not even see any evidence to proceed. They and CPS also do not understand why my husband was even arrested before any investigation was conducted.

My husband was arrested one morning about a month ago because we confronted the accuser a couple days prior. I filed a founded neglect report to CPS on my 6 year old sons paternal grandmother. She is a legal stranger, yet his father never has him at his house (he is always at hers) nor really even cares about him. He made it clear to us that his only concern was taking him from me because i left him and he doesn't want to pay child support. I have his handwritten letters to prove such.

The paternal grandmother has been dropping him off to us every week from weekend visits in filth and denies knowledge of it. Her vehicle stinks of it (animal urine and poo). How is one not to notice THAT? After trying to address it personally for months, it was time to move forward to services. Anyway, she made a false statement for which we have video and medical evidence that proves she had lied on a written report in order to be malicious. She accused my fiance of giving my son a "tittie twister" for pooping his pants (lie), but has no est. date of occurrence, no witnesses, kid denies memory of it-just what she told him to say and husband has no priors at all. The prosecutor for this case even stated that the cops body cam contradicts his report in some major ways (son told him nothing, but cop said he had a lengthy convo that never happened), the cop is friends with the accuser, husband worked the week this would have possibly happened (little contact with child, none alone) and everyone knows me well enough knows i would have kicked him out if he had. I would not have submitted an official statement 10 typed pages long supporting my husband and providing information the defense attorney needed.

She had them for 3 nights and 4 days before reporting. It was only 20 minutes after being confronted for neglect that she reported this. She is on this video saying "BRING IT ON" THREE times at the mention of a lawyer. If you truly suspected abuse, why wait and why drop the child off to the one you are accusing? They already knew I was seeking modification of custody and we also just announced that we have a baby due in February. She even acknowledged in her written statement that she was being recorded and still lied. The cop REFUSED to see the video and REFUSED my statement as a witness. All deputies agreed that he violated their own policies and the law by refusing evidence that would have made the arrest unlawful. This cop completely violated his rights. They stated that my husband should absolutely file a complaint for wrongful arrest. He was arrested based solely on a hearsay statement from an opposing party in a high conflict custody case.

CPS also agreed that this was purely malicious intent and has records of her trying to coach the same kid, etc.. They are all also asking why she has constantly made bad reports on her "adult" son's behalf instead of him and why it wasn't reported 4 days sooner at the start of the visitation period. There is no medical visit record from that first day, or at all, to support her claims.

Yesterday, pretrial hearing:
After being told that they have no case and that I wanted it dropped, my ex got belligerent with the victims advocate and prosecutor to proceed with charges despite not having any evidence at all to support claims. They relented and rescheduled for a second "pre-trial" next month. Husband cannot come home until then with exception to weekends. He asked if they would switch his mother's name with his on documents, as he was not even subpoenaed nor was involved until now-weeks after the fact. His mother gave suggestion in her statements that she was the one with legal guardianship and never mentioned her son. Weird. She also repeatedly claimed in the report that my son has a medical condition, encopresis, that he does not have. This is a ruse to avoid being hit for neglecting my son. That didnt work. You need medical documents stating such. He has behavioral issues that stem from their shared chaotic home life. I have been trying to gain sole custody for 2 years after the father repeatedly violated orders and neglected our son. They have 7 adults and 4 children basically living under one disgusting roof.

They have made numerous false reports on me over the course of 4 years. Now they have targeted my husband, who is in fact innocent. He fully intends on suing them for defamation (he has no record other than minor traffic), harassment and false reporting with malicious intent. He has dozens of reliable character witnesses. He raised his ex wife's twin sisters for 8 years from infancy with no problems. We are friends with his ex wife; she has volunteered to be a character witness. Now all of a sudden these people are trying to peg him as a child abuser because they didn't win that with me when I am reopening a custody case for good reason. These people are total narcissists. We both agree he is entitled to punitive damages as does the freaking prosecutor in the case!

Given the fact that we have lost wages and our savings to pay the legal costs for defense, what other steps do I need to take as a pro se plaintiff to successfully save my son from the damage these people are trying to cause?
I have the forms ready to get a restraining order against the grandmother and all the records on file of her false records (includes an accusation to police that I kidnapped my own child-I had custody) to go with that. Soon as this is over next month, we are hoping the state turns around and charges them both for this. I know not many win that argument, but we have solid electronic evidence and records that can prove it was made in bad faith with malicious intent. Regardless if we are granted the restraining order, I have drafted a modified custody order which would require no contact with the grandparents considering that they have indeed caused a lasting, negative effect on my son and they have no legal rights to begin with. There is no reason for their son not to move away as he is nearly 30, has a generous income and all the means to buy his own property. My son's father is allowing and supporting his family in damaging our child for their own personal gains. I am angry beyond belief that it has to go this far.
My son has been seeing a therapist since January on a biweekly basis. His therapist was notified of this legal dispute so that if my son mentions it, therapist will not have a surprise.

What else can/should I do?

LAWYERS is what you do. The two of you are making a mess of this.

You don't just stand up and say "you ain't got no evidence let's call the whole thing off."

If the prosecutor proceeded past the prelim, it would seem that there is probable cause. Your husband's attorney will discover what the evidence may be and then make any motions that are appropriate or otherwise prepare for trial.

Your husband needs an attorney. You nor your husband understand how these things work. You and your husband are making things worse.

A person making false reports does not mean it rises to the level required by law for charges to be brought. Or for damages to have occurred.

It does not matter if you think there is no reason why your child's father should not move. You cannot file a founded neglect report. Do you mean you filed a report of suspected neglect with CPS ? After CPS investigated did they deem it founded ?

Why did you lose custody ?

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Quoting Mercy&Grace

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Your husband needs an attorney. You nor your husband understand how these things work. You and your husband are making things worse.

A person making false reports does not mean it rises to the level required by law for charges to be brought. Or for damages to have occurred.

It does not matter if you think there is no reason why your child's father should not move. You cannot file a founded neglect report. Do you mean you filed a report of suspected neglect with CPS ? After CPS investigated did they deem it founded ?

Why did you lose custody ?

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I do not think that she did lose custody. She mentioned grandma dropping the child off to her after weekend visits. That would tend to indicate that mom has custody.

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Quoting llworking

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I do not think that she did lose custody. She mentioned grandma dropping the child off to her after weekend visits. That would tend to indicate that mom has custody.

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llworking, I misread. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. OP stated "They already knew I was seeking modification of custody and we also just announced that we have a baby due in February" and "I have been trying to gain sole custody for 2 years after the father repeatedly violated orders and neglected our son."

It was deemed founded. Dirty living conditions. I never lost custody, I'm primary and always have been. He gets weekends. We do have an attorney. The prosecutor wanted to end this right there in court yesterday, but my son's father wants to push it even though it never happened. They did not even know who he was and he was never subpoenaed.
They did not do an investigation before arresting him and had no proof to support the statement made. That day I actually went directly to CPS myself with my son and the social worker disagreed with her claim after interviewing my son.

The report was not made until after the call to CPS and filings for modification of custody (same day). The incident the paternal grandmother is claiming is entirely false. She kept saying in the report that he has a medical condition, which he does not and never has had. It was her cover story for as to why he was in soiled, crusty clothing. In the video she is denying he ever poops his pants, but says other wise in her report. She also claimed that my husband has hurt my son for pooping his pants before and that she was oh so fearful that he would hurt him again, yet that never happened either. She claimed my husband refused to move away from her truck, but the store video shows he never touched it. They have no evidence whereas we do that proves she lied all over this report. We have video recordings, medical documents and her prior false reports.

I apologize, I see where it could be misread differently

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Quoting Ohio0081

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It was deemed founded. Dirty living conditions. I never lost custody, I'm primary and always have been. He gets weekends. We do have an attorney. The prosecutor wanted to end this right there in court yesterday, but my son's father wants to push it even though it never happened. They did not even know who he was and he was never subpoenaed.
They did not do an investigation before arresting him and had no proof to support the statement made. That day I actually went directly to CPS myself with my son and the social worker disagreed with her claim after interviewing my son.

The report was not made until after the call to CPS and filings for modification of custody (same day). The incident the paternal grandmother is claiming is entirely false. She kept saying in the report that he has a medical condition, which he does not and never has had. It was her cover story for as to why he was in soiled, crusty clothing. In the video she is denying he ever poops his pants, but says other wise in her report. She also claimed that my husband has hurt my son for pooping his pants before and that she was oh so fearful that he would hurt him again, yet that never happened either. She claimed my husband refused to move away from her truck, but the store video shows he never touched it. They have no evidence whereas we do that proves she lied all over this report. We have video recordings, medical documents and her prior false reports.

I apologize, I see where it could be misread differently

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Then you should be addressing your questions and concerns to your attorney.

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Quoting Mercy&Grace

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llworking, I misread. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. OP stated "They already knew I was seeking modification of custody and we also just announced that we have a baby due in February" and "I have been trying to gain sole custody for 2 years after the father repeatedly violated orders and neglected our son."

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It must be joint - she said she's been trying for two years to get sole custody.

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Quoting Ohio0081

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It was deemed founded. Dirty living conditions. I never lost custody, I'm primary and always have been. He gets weekends. We do have an attorney. The prosecutor wanted to end this right there in court yesterday, but my son's father wants to push it even though it never happened. They did not even know who he was and he was never subpoenaed.
They did not do an investigation before arresting him and had no proof to support the statement made. That day I actually went directly to CPS myself with my son and the social worker disagreed with her claim after interviewing my son.

The report was not made until after the call to CPS and filings for modification of custody (same day). The incident the paternal grandmother is claiming is entirely false. She kept saying in the report that he has a medical condition, which he does not and never has had. It was her cover story for as to why he was in soiled, crusty clothing. In the video she is denying he ever poops his pants, but says other wise in her report. She also claimed that my husband has hurt my son for pooping his pants before and that she was oh so fearful that he would hurt him again, yet that never happened either. She claimed my husband refused to move away from her truck, but the store video shows he never touched it. They have no evidence whereas we do that proves she lied all over this report. We have video recordings, medical documents and her prior false reports.

I apologize, I see where it could be misread differently

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I'm sorry but prosecutors don't continue a hearing because someone "wants" them to. There has to be a reason that the prosecutor requested another hearing and it can't be because your ex "threw a fit."

Cops don't have to do an investigation before they arrest someone.

Your husband needs a lawyer. You need a lawyer.

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Quoting qwaspolk69

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It must be joint - she said she's been trying for two years to get sole custody.

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It's probably joint legal custody, but joint legal between mom and dad, not mom and grandma.

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I'm sorry but prosecutors don't continue a hearing because someone "wants" them to. There has to be a reason that the prosecutor requested another hearing and it can't be because your ex "threw a fit."

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I can name at least 3 cases where a prosecutor agreed to another hearing because the alleged victim insisted upon it.

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Cops don't have to do an investigation before they arrest someone.

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They have to do enough of an investigation to at least determine that there is probable cause to arrest. That might only take them a few minutes, but there has to at least be probable cause.

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Your husband needs a lawyer. You need a lawyer.

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Yep, everybody needs an attorney.

I just used the money for my mortgage payment for a lawyer. Read through instructions for filing pro we and determined it would be next to impossible to do it properly. Attorneys know what to say and what not to say. Sounds like OP does have attorney but also mentioned pro we, so a little confused. Regardless, for anyone reading this, if a child's safety is at issue and the situation is complicated, do whatever you have to do to get a competent lawyer.

Also, demonstrably false allegations play very poorly in family court. They hear them all the time! Can really hurt credibility- we've been careful about what we report and what we just leave aside, focusing on the more damning evidence instead of piling up a mountain that's harder to sift through.