Chapter 19 - Imogen’s Criminal Case
Imogen’s criminal case was narrow.
One slap.
Five-year-old victim.
Visible facial redness documented.
No fracture.
No concussion.
No prior criminal record.
No evidence of repeated physical assaults against Sawyer.
The prosecutor did not invent felony child torture.
Good.
Imogen eventually accepted a plea to a misdemeanor assault-related offense.
Conditions:
One year probation.
Parenting-focused counseling.
Anger-management treatment.
No unsupervised contact with Sawyer.
No contact at all unless Caleb and I later consented or a court otherwise ordered—which nobody requested.
Community service.
Restitution for Sawyer’s pediatric evaluation and counseling expenses not covered by insurance.
No jail.
Some relatives were furious.
“She hit a child.”
Yes.
Consequences.
No need for life destruction.
Her family-court matter considered the conviction separately.
Not as automatic proof she was unsafe with Mason forever.
Important.
Mason was not Sawyer.
Different relationship.
But the court cared about:
Her involving Mason in adult litigation.
Misrepresenting housing arrangements.
Using another child’s bedroom to stage residence.
Physical loss of control toward Sawyer.
So Imogen’s parenting time remained substantial but initially structured.
No overnight school nights for three months while housing stabilized.
Then graduated schedule.
Co-parenting counseling.
No discussing custody litigation with Mason.
No using Mason to carry messages.
No telling him one parent was:
winning.
The judge told both Imogen and Andrew:
“A parenting schedule is not a custody scoreboard.”
Best line of the case.
Neither enjoyed it.
May you like
Good.
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