Harassment from the Other Parent(Non-Custodial)

                                                                                                                      10-4-14


About six months after the second contract was signed, my son's mother went through a period of harassment. The harassment consisted of calling several times and leaving insults on voicemails and in emails. I called the mediator when I realized there was a problem. The mediator advised my son's mother that what she was doing was inappropriate. Over the next six months, my son's mother was sort of calm, but recently she started harassing me again. This time I received numerous calls in a short period of time that started to glitch my phone because it was on call overload. I had no real choice except to call the police and see what could be done. I advised the police of the new recent insults on my voicemail and the phone call overload. The police advised me to warn the other party about their behavior because that is a requirement  for the behavior to be considered harassment. Also, the police said by calling I had helped make a log and I just needed to keep the date and time for mentioning to a judge in the future because the call is recorded and the call can be reviewed. Lastly, the officer said that I could file for contempt through the courts since the behavior is most likely a violation of the contract which it is a violation.

The fact is that you don't have to put up with a tremendous amount of disrespect and there are options available when the situation requires you to defend yourself. I would suggest caution with how you use the system, like make sure you have support for that the other person has been warned. I used the mediator in the beginning and I used a carefully written email recently and it will be followed by a contempt filing for the next outburst. I understand how hard it is to be insulted and not retaliate in order to build a stronger case against the person, but it is probably the best solution in many cases because as an old saying goes "cooler heads prevail."

 I am putting this information out there because I have had to research hard to figure out how to deal with my son's mother's harassing behavior.  Also, I understand this process might not be the best for everyone, but it is to help provide some tips on how to deal with a similar situation if you are facing one. Good luck and I will try to update or I will post on how this turns out if there are any major changes.





******Update*******

The other parent had a lawyer file for custody shortly after the letter. Shortly after I received the papers, the other parent harassed me in an email, so the matter is continuing. Although, I think the letter worked to some degree because the other parent has actually initiated a process that they will now have to explain their behavior to the judge.

My next post will discuss a little about the new case.