He abused my daughter but I don’t want my husband jailed
The Local Authority has recently issued care proceedings for my only daughter after she made allegations to her teacher that my husband sexually abused her .
My husband had denied this before admitting to me and his best friend what he had done. I’m soconfused.Iwanttotellthetruth becausemydaughterwantstosee himpunishedbutIdon’twanthim to go to prison if I say something. Hesaysitwasallabigmistakeand that he really regrets it.
As a mother you are party to proceedings and as such under a duty to provide full and frank disclosure.Asaparentyoucannotrefuse to give evidence. If you refuse an inference will be drawn. This means the court will assume the thing you are being asked about did occur. If you deny the allegations you could face prosecution for contempt of court. This is a very real possibility especially since your husband has disclosed the abuse to a third party.
You mention you are worried about criminal proceedings against your husband. A disclosuremadeinthefamilycourtcannot be disclosed into the criminal court.
Ifthepolicewantedtouseyour evidenceincriminalproceedings, they would need to apply to the court for permission to disclose yourevidence.Thecourtwillthen consider several factors.
If your daughter would be adverselyimpactedbythemakingof an order this would be a very important factor. However, it would appearthatyourdaughterwishes yourhusbandbeheldaccountable for his actions and as such disclosure may be of benefit to her.
The court will consider the maintenance of confidentiality in child cases which is linked to the importance of encouraging the truth.
This generates the starting point of no disclosure but is then balanced against other factors such as the seriousness of the offence and public interest in prosecution.
There is a strong public interest in convicting those who are guilty of sexual offences against children.
The court will also consider how important co-operation is between agencies involved in the welfare of children. It will be a question of whether this information needs to be disclosed to assist this co-operation. In cases of sexual abuse this is important as your daughter will have medical and emotional needs.
The serious nature of the offence makes disclosure a viable prospect.