I'm 20 years old, common law married with an 11 month old son and I live in Alabama.
My problem is that my fourteen year old sister has been the victim of verbal abuse from my mother for about four years now. My mom has often provoked shouting matches and then called the police on my sister, resulting in multiple stays at Juvenile detention centers.
I believe that these problems at home have caused her to try to have a relationship with a twenty one year old man, who just happens to be my husband's cousin. We are strongly against this, of course.
My 27 year old brother, who has post-traumatic stress disorder from his time in Iraq decided that my sister was the one who needed discipline so he moved in to my mother's house this past Saturday. On Sunday, he threatened to hit my sister in the face for absolutely no apparent reason. He did, and I took her to stay with me until Sunday morning, when my mom wanted her to come home. I found out that my brother was still there so I brought her to the police to be put in protective custody, lest I be charged with interfering with custody.
My mother strongly supported my brother and his actions, though it might be hard to prove later on when she lies.
My sister is still in protective custody, but I would like some insight on how to handle this situation as far as maybe getting an emergency temporary custody order.
So far I believe I've done everything right, even making sure that there were pictures taken of her injuries, and also taking the letter that my mother wrote giving my brother guardianship over my sister ( it was never notarized, but it proves that she agrees that someone with PSTD is the best candidate for raising a child, something I think is an important piece of evidence against her character ). I think the fact that he moved in is a good thing, now that I can prove there is actually violence in the home. Still, I'm afraid it's not enough. Even though I have a child of my own, I'm still only twenty years old - but I would like maybe some advice on how to twist this situation to my advantage and maybe anyone who knows what procedures must be taken to get guardianship or custody of my sister.

