As was typical with CPS cases, especially ones where the guardian was accused of horrific and continued abuse, an emergency hearing was quickly set to determine if the boys should be removed from Caleb's care. Not that he thought it would happen, especially when Dawn was floating the idea of drafting a petition for Bobby to acquire custody of the boys, but it would not be heard until after the hearing was over with. Trying not to let the panic set in until the judge heard all the information, Caleb numbly got dressed and headed out for the hearing. Dean had wanted to go with him, but he would not be allowed in the courtroom for the proceedings.
It was the worst possible time for this to be happening. YED was still out there, and if the boys were taken away from the protection of the house, and from him, they would be vulnerable to whatever games the demon was planning next. "Try to breathe," Dawn reminded him, as he took a seat next to her. In a time of great stress and devastation for him, he was relieved to have her calm presence to steady him. If anyone had his (and the boys') best interests at heart it would be her.
The courtroom felt suffocating, especially with the weight of the stares he was getting from the few people who had been allowed to sit in for the hearing. Ignoring the thundering of his own heart the best he could, he forced himself to consider the plethora of evidence that cleared his name.
Once the hearing started, it was fairly quick. The CPS side wasted no time in displaying the photographs for the judge to see. The pictures depicted Dean's arm, and the violent bruise that the spirit had left for him.
"You can see," the man said, as he paced the floor dramatically. "That there is a consistent timeline of these injuries. The only thing that changes is the severity of them. One bruise looks relatively harmless," he said with a shrug, "but the next ones after that only get worse."
After that, Dr. White, the doctor who had first examined the pictures took the stand.
"Is it your opinion that this is a bruise consistent with being grabbed or punched?"
"Yes."
Caleb groaned, shaking his head in utter disbelief and fury as he listened to this man.
"And is it your opinion that marks like that should have been seen by a doctor?"
"Yes."
"When you look at the bruising and the location of it, what is your first thought?"
This would be the critical opinion that would hold the most weight over the judge. Feeling sick, Caleb swallowed thickly and tried to rely on the words of wisdom Dawn had given to him before the start of it. They would beat the charges, they would keep the boys with who they belonged with, and they would not be separated as a family.
"That," Dr. White said, leaning foreword. "The placement of the marks indicates a sprain or break of some kind."
Caleb opened and then closed his mouth several times in horror. A sprain or a break was infinitely more serious, especially if a judge was supposed to determine if he should be allowed to keep them or not.
"And those kinds of breaks or sprains could be caused by a hit or punch?"
"Yes. A very aggressive, blunt hit could do that."
After that, came the issue of absences. That in itself was not a huge issue, and so the prosecution didn't spend a bunch of time going over the specifics of that, only that it indicated other factors, especially Dean's behavior when he was in class, and how tired he had seemed to the teachers. According to a psychologist they put on the stand, those could be classic markers for potential abuse or neglect.
When Dawn finally got her chance to speak, she wasted no time in jumping through the key points of the case, the ones that the prosecution had so conveniently left out in their hurry to drag him through the mud.
"In regards to the absences," she began, "I can't account for what happened four or five months ago, but the recent ones, the ones that counsel is making such a fuss about, are because they have received credible threats from an unknown stalker. They have laid low for awhile out of necessity."
Caleb tried to listen to what Dawn was saying, and not feel panicked at the ridiculous accusations the prosecution was hurling at him. It was enough, it all was. The fact that the prosecution had gone one step further, and had informed the court that the marks on his arm looked similar to those of a break or sprain was ridiculous. But even though he knew that, and the kids knew that, it meant nothing when the courts got involved, and decided that what he was doing was wrong. It looked so bad, but he was hoping that Dawn would get her chance to salvage what she could from this morning.
"And in regards to the marks on his arm: I never received any indication from speaking with the experts, or my client, or even my own doctors that I spoke with privately, that this was a break or a sprain. In fact, if I recall correctly, Mrs. Ward said that when she was speaking with Dean, she saw him move that arm quite effortlessly, and that certainly wouldn't be the case if it was broken or sprained."
Caleb knew she had a point, but that wouldn't erase any abuse claims, just the ludicrous ones that claimed that his arm had been broken. He wasn't off the hook, far from it, as he tried to keep his breathing under control so he wouldn't lose it. His heart was hammering painfully in his chest, and he knew that it was a direct result of the fear he had of losing the boys, of seeing them taken from him. He couldn't imagine anything worse for either the boys or him.
After her testimony was done, it was purely up to the discretion of the judge, after a few parting words from the CPS worker, who hammered it into the judge's mind that his past actions showed intent, that his criminal history showed probable cause that he was capable of abuse, and that the boys' welfare mattered above any shadow of a doubt.
"Until this case is resolved, the children should not continue to be with the defendant," Diane said bluntly. "His past criminal behavior is indicative of the allegations against him now. This has been a well-documented case for the past year, and now we have a situation, Your Honor, where there might have been an actual break or sprain. For the best interests of the children, there needs to be another option for them until this is fully resolved."
Caleb resisted the urge to roll his eyes. This woman had no clue what she was talking about, and it was laughable that she could saunter around the courtroom and throw her weight around, and judge him for his 'past criminal behavior' when she hadn't even been involved in those cases.
But unfortunately, it wasn't up to him to decide who was right and who wasn't.
"In the best interests of the children," the judge said, "especially with the severity of the bruises, there is a certain risk factor that I can see right now where it concerns the defendant, especially with how often these bruises seem to appear."
Caleb bowed his head, fighting back tears of pure outrage and hurt.
This wasn't right.
This wasn't fair.
"As of right now, I am terminating Mr. River's custodial rights. He has until eight tonight to surrender custody to the Riverside CPS office."
