I've started the process of divorce and the issue is arising with custody of the children. I have 2 biological children with her and 2 step children with deadbeat dads.
When I met my ex-wife, she was living with another woman who helped raised the older kids. Although this person is how we met, our friendship has soured over the years, primarily over the children. I believe that she is being emotionally abusive to the children and she once suggested to my ex-wife I was molesting my daughter.
My ex-wife insisted when my older daughter was born that she would spend 3 nights a week with this person, with my stepchildren (under protest on my part and led to my mental health and our marriage breaking down, but not hugely relevant to the question). I am seeking to end this arrangement so she is raised by just myself and my ex-wife 50/50. At this point of the process, the first mediation session is in a couple of weeks.
The problem I have is with this other woman's partner who is a former Families SA worker and has threatened both myself and my wife multiple times to have our children removed from our care. The accusations include using a steroid cream on my stepdaughter with eczema and for smacking the children in a disciplinary matter - excessive force has never been used.
The threat I have on text message from this person reads "If you continue to demand ***** be removed from us I will use all my power and all my contacts in child protection to make sure you only receive daytime supervised visits"
They are also threatening to report me for assaulting the children (apparently there's a record stretching back 2 years) and for making death threats if I pursue access to my daughter through the courts.
Does this quantify blackmail?
When I met my ex-wife, she was living with another woman who helped raised the older kids. Although this person is how we met, our friendship has soured over the years, primarily over the children. I believe that she is being emotionally abusive to the children and she once suggested to my ex-wife I was molesting my daughter.
My ex-wife insisted when my older daughter was born that she would spend 3 nights a week with this person, with my stepchildren (under protest on my part and led to my mental health and our marriage breaking down, but not hugely relevant to the question). I am seeking to end this arrangement so she is raised by just myself and my ex-wife 50/50. At this point of the process, the first mediation session is in a couple of weeks.
The problem I have is with this other woman's partner who is a former Families SA worker and has threatened both myself and my wife multiple times to have our children removed from our care. The accusations include using a steroid cream on my stepdaughter with eczema and for smacking the children in a disciplinary matter - excessive force has never been used.
The threat I have on text message from this person reads "If you continue to demand ***** be removed from us I will use all my power and all my contacts in child protection to make sure you only receive daytime supervised visits"
They are also threatening to report me for assaulting the children (apparently there's a record stretching back 2 years) and for making death threats if I pursue access to my daughter through the courts.
Does this quantify blackmail?
