This has been reposted here to Lemmy as part of the “Curated Reddit Project.”

I am NOT OP. Original post by u/accountnumber496 in r/legaladvice

trigger warning: child abuse

mood spoiler: infuriating

My ex husband and his new wife made my daughter a back brace out of wood and steel and forced her to wear it. - 13 March 2016

My daughter is nine and we share custody by alternating weeks. My daughter says her back hurts now and her arm is tingling. I have a doctors appointment for her on Monday and in the meantime I am trying to remain calm.

I confronted my ex-husband about it and all her would say was one text message where he says his new wife didn’t like how my daughter slouched at the dinner table. They aren’t doctors and there is nothing wrong with her that she needs a brace. I fucking want to kill both of them. Is there a way I can get a quick court date or see a judge because I don’t want her going back there. When we divorced it took a long time to figure out custody.

Edit: Sorry the location is the state of Florida. I’m so mad I’m having a hard time focusing.

Update: My ex husband and his new wife made my daughter a back brace out of wood and steel and forced her to wear it (Florida) - 12 August 2016

Firstly I would like to thank everyone for all the support in my first post and all the supportive PM’s I received. It was really overwhelming (in a good way). A few people asked for an update so here it is.

So a lot has happened since I first posted. I called in to work while I was trying to get all this sorted. One of my co-workers has a cousin who is a lawyer and she knew someone who was able to help me and file the paperwork. My husband played dumb in court but his visits got reduced to supervised and he was ordered to take a parenting class.

My daughter went to physiotherapy. Eventually the court reinstated his visitation when he swore he had learned his lesson and was sorry and with his otherwise clean record the court agreed. I was against it but the court ruled against me.

I gave my daughter her own cell phone so she could call me whenever she needed to. On her second visit it happened again. This time the brace had steel and fabric instead of wood and they took her phone too. The next night she left when they weren’t looking and went up the street to a neighbor who is a police officer. The neighbor called paramedics and her co-workers. They had to cut the brace off my daughter.

My husband and his wife were arrested. They got out quickly but they have been charged and their infant is with CPS. My ex lost visitation and custody and I’m working on making it permanent.

Unfortunately my daughter’s shoulder was dislocated from the brace. It set back her rehab and part of her arm is still numb and tingling. She needed surgery and is still recovering. She always played sports (especially at school) and did dance but the doctor thinks she won’t ever be able to lift her arm all the way up again.

I hate my ex and he’ll see her again over my fucking dead body. Right now I’m focusing on my daughter while my lawyer takes care of things. That’s my update.

Reminder - I am not the original poster.