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Child abuse is a common allegation during heated custody disputes. If the allegations are true, should the guilty party be given the privileges of child custody and child visitation? This is a big question on the minds of many in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A man was booked and charged with aggravated second-degree battery of his six-year old child two weeks ago. Despite charges of child abuse, the father currently has joint custody and child visitation rights.
A Baton Rouge Parish judge ordered joint custody of the six-year-old boy to his grandmother and his father, for the child's mother died last year. A month after the investigation of child abuse began, a judge ordered joint custody with the stipulation that no “corporal punishment” would be given to the child. A Department of Social Services representative said the case is closed, though the case awaits trial in the coming weeks.
Allegations of child abuse began after the grandmother took the child to the emergency room for a fever. During the hospital visit, doctors found bruises all over the boy's back and determined that child abuse was a likely cause. The doctors alerted the Department of Social Services and the police began an investigation. The child told doctors his father had whipped him for wetting the bed.
The child's grandmother argues that the father should never be able to see the child, citing child abuse as the reason. A judge will determine the arrangements of child custody in an upcoming court hearing.