Anonymous asked this question on 5/3/2000:

Hello jcblmsw, My user name is jij. Here's my situation, my 2yearold's father was arrested and plead guilty to domestically assaulting me. We are now apart, I have a restraining order against him. He also was indicated for child abuse against my son. He has temporarily received supervised visits at the court house which he has not taken advantage of. What are the chances of my getting sole custody of my child? I went to district court today for the domestic assault case and he received 1 year's probation and he has to attend domestic assault counseling for 6 months. What kind of rights does he have? He claims he never abused our child which to be honest I have never seen it myself but alot of people say I'm in denial. We worked opposite shifts ,so I don't know what went on when I was not home.All I know is he is violent when he is upset or under pressure.Do you think the judge will give joint custody considering he is pretty unstable? thanks jij

jcb1msw gave this response on 5/3/2000:

i do not believe he will be able to get joint custody as in most states the issues of domestic violence must be taken in consideration. the workings of joint custody means that the parents must be able to work together given his track record this is an impossible task for you. his not taking advantage of the supervised visitation offered by the court is also against him, as is the indicated case which he will have against him until his youngest child is twenty eight. going to a victim services agency in your area may be helpful to you, often they have advocates who can assist you with the court process. this is most often without cost to the client. good luck, please rate this answer, thanks

The average rating for this answer is 5.

Anonymous rated this answer a 5.