MOTHER MAKES FALSE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST THE FATHER SO THAT THE FATHER COULD NOT SPEND TIME WITH THEIR CHILD
Dittmar & Dittmar [2020] FCCA 2373 (31 August 2020)
This case is about a mother who made false allegations against the father so that the latter could not spend time with their child.
Facts:
The father seeks an order that the child live with him and spend supervised time with the mother until such time as the mother has successfully engaged in counselling and provides a report that she no longer is required to undertake counselling. While the mother seeks an order that the child live with her and spend supervised time with the father until such time as he is 18 years old.
The father says that there is an unacceptable risk of harm to this child of suffering psychological or emotional abuse as a result of the mothers unwavering belief that the father is a pedophile and that he has and will continue to sexually abuse the child. His case is that the mother cannot refrain from exposing the child to those views.
The mother made allegations that the father is a pedophile, that he has had sexual relationships with school students, that he has sexually abused this child, he has an addiction to pornography and that he has repeatedly raped her but failed to prove said allegations.
Issue:
Should the child live with the father considering that the child is in an unacceptable risk of harm to this child of suffering psychological or emotional abuse as a result of the mothers unwavering belief that the father is a pedophile and that he has and will continue to sexually abuse the child?
Law:
- 60CA- In deciding whether to make a particular parenting order in relation to a child, a court must regard the best interests of the child as the paramount consideration.
Analysis:
The court is of the view that psychological abuse is as damaging to a child as physical abuse. This is particularly so when the child suffers from a distorted view of one or both of its parents as a result of one or both of its parents not being able to protect the child from his or her own views of the other parent.
It is always difficult to remove a very young child from a primary attachment however when the evidence is so overwhelmingly in favor of a finding that the mother simply cannot and will not facilitate a relationship between this child and his father, something has to be done in order to mitigate against the long-term harm that such behavior will cause for this child.
Conclusion: Request sought by the father is granted, the child will live with him and spend supervised time with the mother until such time as the mother has successfully engaged in counselling.