Abuse of a child - urgent.

princessdon

meritaten wrote: »

princessdon wrote: »

Also to add that SS will not divulge the source of their enquiry, it could have came from a neighbour, friend, realtive, school or anyone.


Not true I am sorry - I know personally of people who have been told exactly who reported them!
and on MSE itself Social Workers have said they do tell the source of the enquiry to 'establish trust'!

There will always be the odd one or two who break rules and by the end of an enquiry (especially if the courts are involved) the source is disclosed BUT on Fact Finding they should never.

meritaten

you havent mentioned the mother since your first post hun.
Is she now in a position where she could apply to the courts for the return of her daughter (would she want to?).
If she has, er, cleaned up her act, could you go see her and tell her whats been happening, then she could, with your support and evidence perhaps have a very strong case?

meritaten

princessdon wrote: »

meritaten wrote: »

There will always be the odd one or two who break rules and by the end of an enquiry (especially if the courts are involved) the source is disclosed BUT on Fact Finding they should never.

yes, its a shame because those who know about this are put off reporting abuse - because of the possible comeback!

365days

The girl may be lying, she may not. It is not your role to judge if she is or not. Just ring someone Police, Social services or Headteacher (Senco is not always person in charge of child protection) Then you know you have done what you can. What they do is up to them.

Even if it turns out she is lying she sounds like a desperately unhappy girl.

j.e.j.

There's obviously a lot more going on here than meets the eye. OP probably has a fair idea about whether or not the girl's claims of abuse are true. It does sound like a 'problem family' if I can put it that way.

thegirlintheattic

It is not your job to investigate. Contact SS immediately (they will not make an appointment in a case like this but visit at school).

Better that the girl is removed from an abusive environment, than she stays but you keep your relationship.

Lunar_Eclipse

I would call the NSPCC.

I wouldn't want to deal with SS or the Police directly.

verysillyguy06

Lunar_Eclipse wrote: »

I would call the NSPCC.

I wouldn't want to deal with SS or the Police directly.

All they do is call Social Care though in direct abuse cases

verysillyguy06

Moo_Point wrote: »

Hello, I need some urgent advice, I cannot give a lot away as I know certain people who read this forum and it would give who I am away, so I will try my best.

A child in my family was taken from her mother and custody was given to the childs grandparents, its a very long story, the child has been living with the grandparents ever since. (A residence order was involved and the court case which followed gave the grandparents custody) The child is related to me but I cant say in which way as it is too specific.

From experience the grandmother has always been extremely manipulative and things always have to be her way or no way, she used to lock her own daughter in her bedroom when she was growing up, her daughter did not have a great childhood in many ways so she knows what her mother is capable of, she always tried to control her daughter, even when she left home. Theres lots more but as I say I cannot go into it all.

Anyway, the child in question is 12 years old, she has begun sending me messages, either via text or on facebook, and the things she is saying is making me very worried as it is not normal the way she is being treated, so much so I actually took a copy of these messages to a solicitor to get their opinion.

The messages have been coming to me for around 6 weeks now and each one is getting worse. As an example, if the child says as much as one thing "out of line" she will get pinned up against the wall and washing up liquid will be forced into her mouth.

She explained she was ten minutes late home from school and for that she got pushed out of the living room and had a hot pot noodle thrown over her, burning her arm. Another message told me that she was shopping with her grandparents and saw someone she went to school with and went to speak to them, because she dared to do that once at home she was once again pinned up against the wall and ended up with a cut lip, not sure how as it wasnt explained to me.

Each message is ended the same "please dont tell anyone I told you because it will only get worse for me"

I managed to speak to the child on the phone recently and I really did not know what to do or say so I just blurted out that she could come live with me for a while to get her out of the situation she is in, right away she panicked and pleaded with me that if the grandparents found out she had been talking to me it would make her life worse, but I cant just leave her like this.

The solicitor told me because the child had been living with them for so long no judge in their right mind would move her away from the life she knows/friends/school etc and that the only thing I could do would be to call social services and the child would probably get taken into care, the thing is, the child has been so manipulated and brainwashed that she told me if anything happened she would tell them she wanted to stay with her grandparents because she is scared what they will do to her if this comes out. The solicitor also told me that it would be the childs word against the grandparents.

I really do not know what to do or where to go from here, I dont want to break her confidence in me but at the same time the messages are now coming every other night and the contents of them are getting worse.

What do I do? Baring in mind the grandparents still have the residence order?

Call Social Care !! Make it clear that it is anonymous and they should not divulge the information. Dont delay it !

They should even take calls now


However, you do need to have an open mind as to what they may find out.

I am certain that this is a situation where it is needs to be investigated but I am also aware that sometimes children experience things more dramatically than it in reality may look like.

Racheldevon

I work regularly within the safeguarding children field. You are aware that a child is at risk, based on the information you have been provided with. You therefore have a responsibility to share this with the relevant authorities so that it can be investigated and a decision made on how best to safeguard the child. If you call the NSPCC there will only be a delay whilst they share it with Social care in your area. It doesn't matter whether or not the grandmother has a residency order, and similiarly it doesn't matter whether you contact the police or social care - if you refer to the possible physical injury/marks when calling the information through, it is highly likely to lead to a section 47 enquiry which involves both police and social care visiting. I would suggest you phone this through to the Emergency Duty Team - call your local social care department and their answerphone will contain details of how to contact the EDT (who provide out of hours cover)