Abuse of Four-Year-Old By Her Mother

[sdad7]

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

Okay! Wife left after being in the states for only 5 months. (Green card) She abandoned our daughter and myself and rented a room in another house.
After a month or so she met a guy. A few months later she wanted our daughter to visit her so I allowed it.
I met this gangster boyfriend (when picking up my daughter)who I had to file a police report against for threats etc. All in front of my daughter. He seemed to be high on something.
The mother got in the car and drove off with boyfriend while he flipped the bird to me in front of my daughter and mother did nothing to stop this behavior. At the end of 2010 mother stated she was no longer seeing same boyfriend.
During the rest of the 2010 and 2011 year her cell phone number was disconnected 5 times with new numbers.
The first time i called the house middle to late 2010 and was told she no longer lives there.
I usually receive phone calls from her and bring our daughter to a destination for a visit once a month.
The mother does not want me knowing where she lives. I believe mostly because I keep asking her for a divorce peacefully. (but now i know it was drug related)Since i have physical custody , I didn't want to rock the boat.
The mother talked me into letting her take our daughter to visit grandparents in China for 30 days with an agreement, mother would give her back.
After 30 days she had my daughter tell me that she wanted to stay with mother longer. I understand my daughter wants to be with mother at only 4 yrs old. So I let her stay, knowing i would not have a choice.
I also knew that the mother has no patience, and gets mad very easy. So I gave it time.
What I didn't know was that she was still with the gangster boyfriend and they were fighting all the time.
On Dec 6 2011 I recieved a phone call that my daughter wanted to come home with daddy.
So I met them at the bus station where she dropped her off and immediately got back on and left. (San Diego to Baja Mex bus station)

My daughter began to tell me that boyfriend broke mothers cell phone on street, police arresting boyfriend. Mother smoking white stuff, homies coming over house all the time, mother not cooking anything only eating chips and soda, sleeping in bathtub and mother turning off light, mother sleeping on couch while boyfriend sleeping in daughters bed, mother putting daughter in closet while boyfriend and mother fighting, daughter stating don't like boyfriend touching me or calling me names, mother always saying the "F" word to her. Etc etc All this during the past week hearing different things from my daughter. Once I arrived at my friends store, we noticed that my daughter had a black left eye.
After some time my daughter said that the boyfriend did it. Daughter said mother told her not to tell daddy lots of things. he punched her in the eye when fighting with the mother. I didn't notice the eye cause it was dark when i picked up my daughter at the bus station.
The mother's phone has been disconnected once again just before mother dropping off my daughter and I have chosen not to receive any more unknown phone calls.

I contacted CPS next day and they took a report and then the supervisor explained to me Monday that they were not going to pursue the mother or boyfriend since the daughter was safe with the father. They had no address where the mother is staying was a factor on the decision. He did give me a report number and said to file for sole custody at the family court and until then NOT to give her back. He also stated if the mother tries to get her back to call the hot line to see where she is living.

Tomorrow i am going into the police station with the 1st report i made on the boyfriend for threats and file a new crime report for abuse. Hopefully they will be able to trace his license plate I got from the 1st report and pick him up.

Since i have no idea where the mother is living, and i can't find any Abandonment forms on the internet nor does the court have them.(someone mentioned that with abandonment , I do not need to serve her) Do I just file regular divorce and put abandonment, and what else do i write for reasons for divorce. There has to be a long list of things including Fraud?

Since July5, 2010 my daughter and i have been living in Baja, Mexico. I registered my daughter to start school on January 3, 2012. Been taking her to the circus and B-Day parties and trying to get her happy and be a kid as she should. My daughter is always saying daddy don't leave me. Do you love me, all the time and shouldn't feel scared of losing me. I have a house here, phone number and address. I also have a phone number and address in the states for business purposes.(Yes, i am American Citizen)

Is there anything else or any things i should also be doing in order to protect my daughter from harm?

[Dogmatique]

Wait - you're living in Mexico?

Then Mexican law applies, not US law. Sorry.

[Disagreeable]

In MX, you have no way to protect your daughter from mom, if she has financial resources to hire thugs.

[sdad7]

Everything happened in the states!
I go back and forth!
Don't be so quick to judge, sorry!

[Disagreeable]

Everything happened in the states!
I go back and forth!

That is not your residence, nor the childs.

[aardvarc]

The child is living in Mexico. The typical things that the US courts can do to assist, like issue restraining orders against the mother or her potentially dangerous boyfriend are useless and unenforceable where the child is residing. Unless the child is spending considerable time in the states, the courts may be less than helpful because of jurisdiction issues. However, the divorce must happen in the US courts. You'll want to retain an attorney and file for divorce in the US. You don't need the attorney so much for the divorce part (which should be easy) as for the announcement by publication part. The other side of the divorce needs to be notified by publication, and doing it wrong can later nullify the divorce, so it's worth the money to pay an attorney for a short time to get it RIGHT. If publication is successful, and mom doesn't respond, then you'll get your divorce judgement.

[sdad7]

Thanks so much and yes the divorce will be done through us courts and my address used there also.

[sdad7]

First of all, apologies to Dogmatique!

Two things, first since I live in Mexico with daughter and mother, actually since Dec. 21, 2009 we have established residence here in Mexico. Mother left July 5 2010. So I have and need to get divorce here in Mexico. My next step.

2nd issue I heard back from the Detective handling the abuse case regarding my daughter and she(Det) spoke to the mother and and the mother denied any abuse and denied having a boyfriend. The Det. explained to me that the District Attorney does not want to pursue the case since this is a family custody battle and that my daughter would have to have broken bones, busted eye etc. I said to the Det that I would never want it go that far. I also said to her that it should not matter whats going on with the parents, if there is abuse etc on a child, this should be taken serious and pursued. Det said they were going to put the file on INACTIVE status. I wonder if the Det actually brought the mother in or just did this over the phone and trusted that she was speaking to the person without verifying. So the boyfriend gets a pass and my daughter never even gets interviewed but has been telling everyone that mommies boyfriend hit her in the eye.

What the heck is going on here, I ask you guys, what should my next step be?