Getting Your Paperwork In Order

Getting Your Paperwork In Order

Part of the final phases of the court proceedings is making sure your child will be protected once the abuser is released from jail. One way to help accomplish this is to request that the judge sign a protective order prohibiting the abuser from having contact with your child or your family during their incarceration and also once they are released from jail. The protective order specifies the length of time for which the order must be adhered to and should the abuser violate the order, they are subject to arrest.

Another task is to determine whether your state has a mechanism in place to notify the victim or their family when the prisoner is moved or released from jail. You must register for this service and notification is sent by mail, or  you can opt to receive the notification by phone. Either way, it is does provide some peace of mind to know that the abuser won’t be released back into society without your knowledge. The same organization that assists with the notification process can also assist in making sure the abuser is not paroled back into the same community. We were able to request that the offender be paroled into a different county.

The final task that we recommend is to speak with the abuser’s parole officer. Ask specific questions about where the offender is actually be paroled to, what are his restrictions in terms of how far he can travel from the location he is paroled to, and what the penalty is for violating these restrictions.

Additionally, given the nature of the crime, the DA should have pushed for the abuser to be registered as a sex offender, in which case, he should be electronically monitored with a GPS tracking device. That said, make sure the parole officer knows where your child resides, attends school, or works, so there is significant tracking radius placed around your home and the places that your child frequents daily. Granted, the system is terribly broken and the monitoring isn’t fail-safe, it is still worth doing as an added precautionary measure. You should also make sure your child has clear instructions on what to do if the abuser violates the protective order. This includes getting to a safe place, calling 911 and the parole officer immediately!!

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