My ex is abusing our 4-year-old: How do I help my son?

by Name Withheld
(Location Withheld)

This is a case where a mother has seen her ex-husband strike their then 18-month-old son in the head repeatedly with a screwdriver. Abuse reports have been made to authorities by doctors and friends when the child displayed countless bruises, 2nd degree burns, pulled tendons where he had been run over by a tractor, and bloody gashes in his head. Despite the numerous reports, and physical as well as photographic evidence of abuse at the hands of his father—who has now remarried and has a newborn—the courts awarded him residential custody of the child.

The boy is now 4 years old, and he is still suffering abuse and neglect by his father. The mother continues to try to gain custody of her son, whom she believes is being used to get back at her. The boy is reportedly full of anger and frustration. The question that arose: What more can I do to help my child?

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