Injuries and Child Abuse
Kids injure themselves every day. Their playful and at times fearless nature can lead to both serious and non-serious injuries on a daily basis. Unfortunately, many common injuries, such as broken bones and bruises, can seem like intentional acts (i.e. child abuse). Indeed, many parents have faced child abuse allegations when people mistake normal childhood injuries for abuse. Though these cases are not hopeless, they do take strategic defenses to clear the parents’ names. To help you better understand the possible defenses to child abuse allegations pertaining to child injuries, I’ve compiled this list of tips.
Keep Your Story to Yourself
Don’t provide any statements. Before you try to explain anything, consult with a New Jersey attorney with experience handling child abuse defense cases. You may have a reasonable explanation for your child’s accidental injuries or may even not know how your child was injured. But once your child’s medical provider, teacher, or someone else in your child’s life reports the injury to CPS, you need to be careful what you say.
Find an Advocate and Experts
Connect with professionals. Working with an attorney provides many benefits, one of which is referrals to medical experts. In these types of child abuse cases, medical experts can provide valuable testimony. But it’s important to work with trusted experts, which an attorney can help you do. Many parents have been cleared of allegations once a medical expert examined their child and confirmed the injuries were not intentional.
Back Up Your Claim
Gather records. Make sure you have copies of your entire child’s medical and school records. Having documents that demonstrate your history of caring for your child and protecting his or her wellbeing can help. Similarly, speak with neighbors, pediatricians, or close family friends who would be willing to provide a statement on your behalf. You might not need one, but it’s good to know to whom you can turn for support.
Stay Calm
Being accused of injuring your child intentionally can be overwhelming. But it’s important to stay calm and work with professionals when facing such allegations. Handling your case calmly and confidentially can influence the outcome if you take the right steps. Speak with an experienced New Jersey child abuse defense attorney if you are facing allegations of child abuse. It’s vital you work with an attorney from the beginning to maximize your chance of clearing your name and getting DCPP out of your life.
Do you need child abuse defense in New Jersey? If so, Williams Law Group, LLC can help. Our skilled attorneys can help you in matters involving the DCPP. Located in Short Hills, New Jersey, Williams Law Group, LLC provides compassionate and dedicated legal services to Union, Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Monmouth, and Middlesex counties, and the surrounding areas. Our knowledgeable attorneys handle divorce and family law, child custody, and child abuse/neglect cases. Call our office at (908) 810-1083, email us at info@awilliamslawgroup.com, or contact us through our confidential online form to schedule a consultation and ultimately get you connected with an experienced New Jersey divorce and child custody attorney.
