What should I do?

[giftthatkeepsongiving]

I am a NC regular. I had to NC because this is simply incredulous and would be easily identifiable if you know me in real life and I don't want it linking to my regular name and all my other posts.

I left my abusive stbx h about 2 years ago and he sees them 1 night a week. He has never been charged with violence, has no record and I am divorcing him on the 2 year separation as opposed to unreasonable behaviour (I was frightened he would kick off ).

So he has seen the DCs quite freely. There have been 2 times when he has lost his temper - called one of them " a little bastard" and had him by the scruff of his neck. Another time when he was so vile that my DS went to school in tears and was crying for 45 minutes (he has only dropped them off at school twice in his whole life and this was one of them :-/). He regularly verbally abuses me in front of the children (whore, slag, etc).

Anyway, to get to the point.......the DCs have come back tonight having been to his house for the night and he had taken them to a local fair. One of my DS's won a goldfish, and yes to be fair he did say he wasn't that bothered about winning a goldfish, but.....my stbx h ATE THE GOLDFISH. ALIVE. FOR A £10 BET WITH A MATE. IN FRONT OF DS.

I am speechless, I want to stop all contact.

Am I over reacting?

[Leavenheath]

No you're not. This man is an animal. Go for supervised contact from now on and only if the kids want to see him. He has no contact rights as a parent, only the responsibility to be available to see the kids when they want to see him.

[giftthatkeepsongiving]

I have this awful guilt about stopping the contact.

The DCs still want to see him. Will they hate me if I stop the contact?!?

I was thinking of writing through the solicitor to say there is no contact until he can prove he is seeking therapy?!?

[pictish]

What an utter arsehole!!

[AnyFucker]

Stop contact

Let him take you to court (he will bluster about that but not follow through)

The man is an animal and no court in the land would condone what he did in front of dc's

Be strong, and stick to your guns

he is intent on destroying his children. That cannot be allowed to happen, and you will be supported in that

How is the current access set up ? Through Cafcass or such ? Contact the appropriate professional and tell them what he has done

He has fully shot himself in the foot with this latest "jape"

[CharlieUniformNovemberTango]

I know it sounds silly but could you report him to the RSPCA? I;m sure they would investigate and having that on record may be helpful if he were to push for contact.

I think I would offer him supervised contact from now on though.

[Leavenheath]

If the DC still want to see him they can, but supervised contact only from now on. There are contact centres just for this purpose. Don't feel guilty in the least. You would be more guilty as a mother if you let this go on a moment longer.

[Vivacia]

I would feel more guilty letting my children be exposed to this language and behaviour.

[giftthatkeepsongiving]

I have emailed my solicitor to send a letter out to say all contact is stopped.
God this is SHIT

[giftthatkeepsongiving]

The contact arrangement is informal at the moment so I'm not breaching anything anyway.

I wonder what the hell I am going to say to the DCs
I have already said OVER and OVER tonight about how unacceptable his behaviour is and about treating animals with respect etc etc.
They won't be expecting me to say they can't see him anymore for this

And I know my 8 year old will feel guilty for telling me

Argggggghhhhhhhhhhhh

[MexicanHat]

Jesus, this post had made me feel physically sick!! Supervised contact no doubt..I'm just lost for words....

[joblot]

He's not an animal, animals behave better than this. He's a vile human being and I pity his children. At least you have the measure of him and can restrict contact.

[LEMisdisappointed]

Just fucking awful, i can only assume that the total utter waste of oxygen was pissed. I bet his mate was pissed too - that is reason enough to not allow him unsupervised contact with the kids. Your poor kids. I actually feel sick

[ColinButterfly]

That's one of the most abusive incidents I've ever heard of or read about on here. Truly vile.

Stop contact, he fits the profile of a truly awful abuser and eeek not to be amateur psychologist, these are psychopathic/sociopathic incidents. He sounds dangerous tbh.

[hellsbellsmelons]

You have done the right thing.
Don't think for a second about this poor excuse for a human being!
He is teaching YOUR children terrible thing and you are now putting a stop to that.
That is a good thing!
Don't back down. This 'person' doesn't deserve any sympathy.
Well done and stay strong.

[Curiositykilledthecrap]

He sounds awful.

Are you absolutely sure the goldfish was live though? I went to a fair last week that had winning prizes of plastic goldfishes in bags. We all laughed about how you 'used to be able to win a live one at the fair...'

Honestly not trying to doubt that he's a dick. Just 'hoping' it was a bad joke gone wrong?

[giftthatkeepsongiving]

I'm afraid it was definitely alive

Thanks for your words guys. I ned validating on this because he has already started on the "don't make a big thing out of this/manipulate the children/it was just a joke".

[ColinButterfly]

Ah it was just a joke

They always say things like that

[Leavenheath]

If you go for supervised contact, your children will still be able to see him, so you;re not stopping them seeing their dad are you?

[Curiositykilledthecrap]

Oh dear god. That's just awful. Absolutely horrible.

[garlicnutty]

I would be telling the children that, even though he's their Dad, he does cruel things. These include: [A] eating a live goldfish () [B] in front of them, [C] finding it amusing; [D] swearing at them; [E] physically attacking them.

We do not keep people in our lives who are abusive towards us or to animals.

[garlicnutty]

Well done, btw

[2712]

And Fathers for Justice always moan about mums stopping access, FGS.
I wouldn't let my DCs within 500 yards of this arse.

[whitesugar]

I am sorry you and DC are going through this and am truly appalled. My EXH recently assaulted my teenagers and although not little ones the same rules apply. You should report this to the police straightaway. Animals are protected by the Animal Welfare Act. You should also report the incident when he grapped your child by the neck. I beg you to do this. These are crimes. Once you report it sociAl services will be notified & contact will be on the agenda. You must state you want no contact. For your children's sake lose any feelings of guilt about no contact. Your children are not of an age where they can decide if they want contact you must decide how best to protect them.

The reason I feel so strongly is my DC have been punched in the head by EXH. He could have killed them. He was ok til they became teenagers. They hate him now and want no contact which I support wholeheartedly. I regret allowing them to go as babies but solicitors advised then 14 years ago that just because he was violent to me he wasn't to them & they had legal right to have contact with their father. Your Ex is terrorising your children.

I should have up and left the area with the children. He wouldn't have followed to be with them because he is a lazy bastard who loves the role of victim.

You have a duty to protect your children. Make no mistake this is not normal behaviour. If his violent temper escalates and you do nothing you will have questions to answer. I apologise if I sound harsh but I really urge you to report him and push for no contact. He will always be a dangerous influence in their lives and could damage them irreparably.

[whitesugar]

I should have clarified that my children are now permitted themselves to decide whether or not to have contact.

[giftthatkeepsongiving]

My solicitors have sent the letter today.
I feel sick with how he is going to react.