What to do if my child accuses someone else
- Report the allegations to the police.
- Seek legal advice.
- do not allow the child to be unsupervised in the presence of the alleged perpetrator.
- if the police proceed with charges and an apprehended personal violence order or apprehended domestic violence order, notify the child’s school and other organisations where the alleged perpetrator may attend.
- if the alleged perpetrator is a spouse or ex-spouse seek legal advice about placing restrictions on the alleged perpetrator either spending no time or supervised time with the child.
- if the alleged perpetrator denies the allegations, cooperate with the police to the extent they request for any criminal prosecution and seek legal advice about whether or not legal proceedings should be commenced under the Family Law Act.
What to do if my child accused me?
If you are the alleged perpetrator and you deny the allegations, seek legal advice before cooperating with any police request for an interview or information
- inform the police that you do not consent to be interviewed in relation to the allegations;• if any charges are laid or apprehended violence orders taken out, comply with the terms of any bail conditions or apprehended violence order.
- if you are a parent of the child and you are being refused any time at all with the child, seek legal advice about nominating individuals or organisations who can provide supervision of your time with the child
- if the police take no action or withdraw charges and the apprehended domestic violence order and time with the child is still being denied, seek legal advice about commencing proceedings under the Family Law Act to restore time (initially it can be expected that a degree of supervision would be required until either an interim hearing or a court child expert provides a report to the court in the proceedings making recommendations for removal or modification of supervision.
If a child tells a parent that they have been sexually assaulted by another parent or another adult, the person facing the accusations is effectively walking a legal tightrope. One false step along the way can have adverse impacts in either the criminal law jurisdiction or the family Law jurisdiction (or both).
If you know of anyone in these circumstances, have them contact one of our family law solicitors today on 02 4627 3333.
This article was published on 27/09/23 and the information is valid only to the date of publishing. This article should be considered merely general and non-specific on the subject matter and is not and should not be considered or relied on as legal, advice. Meehans Solicitors is not responsible in the event this information is relied upon by the reader in the absence of specific legal advice.