Have you been wrongfully accused of child abuse or neglect in Fort Lauderdale, Florida? Michael D. Weinstein, P.A. is a criminal defense law firm that fights for the rights of the accused. Our criminal defense attorney can review the charges against you, gather evidence to support you, and fight to help you get the best possible outcome under the law.
Recent news articles report on cases where individuals of color and the poor have been held to standards by child protective services that poor families simply cannot always meet. Poor parents sometimes face charges of neglect, not because they are actually neglectful of their children, but simply because they are poor and cannot afford childcare. According to the New York Times, children are sometimes taken from their families because their parents struggle to provide the children with food or childcare. Rather than providing these needy parents with the support they need, the state takes the children, puts them in foster care, and then provides foster care parents with money to support the children. Individuals can also face charges of neglect if they have an untreated mental health condition or they suffer from untreated substance abuse issues. It is known that it can be incredibly traumatizing for a child to be removed from his or her parents. However, the state may be prosecuting struggling parents rather than providing them with the assistance they need and deserve.
Other parents get wrongfully accused of child abuse. Sometimes parents may use their children as pawns in a tough divorce or child custody case, and one parent may wrongfully accuse the other of abuse. In other situations, a child might have been accidentally hurt, but the parent is getting accused of child abuse because the physician reported the parent to social services. Yet another situation might be one where a child has a medical condition that results in bruising or other “evidence” that individuals might wrongfully construe as child abuse.
If you are facing child abuse charges, it is important to take these charges very seriously. You could face jail time, and potentially lose custody of your children. Michael D. Weinstein, P.A. is a criminal defense law firm in Fort Lauderdale, Florida that may be able to assist you.
Defenses for Child Abuse Accusations
There are several potential defenses for child abuse allegations. For example, if you are being charged with neglect because of poverty, you may be able to show how poverty is impacting your situation, and may be able to seek additional support. Child protective services is sometimes aggressive in protecting children from harm because they don’t want to miss a case where a child is legitimately in danger. However, child protective services may also need to address bias, racism, and classism within its own system. These biases can create situations where parents are wrongfully accused of child abuse and neglect and lose their children for no other reason than that they are poor.
Other defenses can include presenting evidence to the court that you are going through a difficult divorce or child custody battle. If your former partner stands to benefit from your conviction, this could cast a shadow of a doubt on accusations, especially if the only evidence available is his or her word versus yours. Parents also have a right to discipline their children as they see fit, and there is a fine line between some types of corporeal punishment and child abuse (spanking, for example).
If a child gets accidentally injured, sometimes parents can face accusations of child abuse. For example, sometimes a child falls off furniture, or falls at a park, and then goes to school. If the teacher thinks the child is being abused, he or she has a responsibility to report this abuse to authorities. Parents may then find themselves having to prove how the child got hurt. Medical conditions can sometimes leave children bruised or leave them more susceptible to fractures. Facing child abuse charges because your child has a medical condition or was accidentally injured? Michael D. Weinstein, P.A. is a criminal defense law firm in Fort Lauderdale, Florida that may be able to assist you.
There are other possible defenses for child abuse allegations. Every case is unique. If you are facing the serious charge of child abuse, you have the right to remain silent and the right to seek the representation of a lawyer. Michael D. Weinstein, P.A. is a criminal defense law firm in Fort Lauderdale, Florida that may be able to assist you.