My fiance has a daughter, she’s in 5th grade and lives with her mom, uncle, and grandparents. She is not happy there and wishes to live with us for many reasons. One of her biggest reasons is lack of privacy and her uncle makes her feel uncomfortable. The uncle has a child in kindergarten and that little girl and my fiances daughter are often made to bathe together, and the uncle insists on sitting on the edge of the tub when they do. He also tends to go in the bathroom.while my fiances daughter is in the bath or shower and insists on helping her wash her hair and sometimes dry off. Neither the uncle or grandpa see any issues with undressing completely in front of the child. She hates being there and says it makes her feel creeped out and wants to be with us. She has not said she has been touched sexually so we are assuming for now that’s not an issue, she is very uncomfortable with what goes on tho. Child has talked to her mom about it and so has my ex, only reaction he’s gotten is being told that he and the child need to get over it because that’s just how her family is and that’s not going to change. My fiance and his ex went to mediation last month and did not agree and they have a court date set for near the end of september. My fiance would like to file an order to get his daughter, possibly emergency custody but we are unsure what grounds there needs to be to file or if he has the justification to do so and how other than the child telling us what happens which she does regularly when she is with us what proof we would need to be able to file to get the child out of there and with us…what’s your input on it? Thanks!
For the court to enter an emergency child custody order, they must find that the child is exposed to a substantial risk of bodily injury or sexual abuse or that there is a substantial risk that the child may be abducted or removed from the State of North Carolina for the purpose of evading the jurisdiction of North Carolina courts.
The facts as you have presented them are very concerning. Even if the child has not been touched sexually, the behavior you have described sounds inappropriate, and you should consider the immediate involvement of child protective services.