Hello - thanks for reading our wits end story: Our 15 year old boy ran off to stay with his girlfriend, citing a possible threat to him of family violence. Child protection has contacted us to check and they advise not much they can investigate as both parties are 15 years old. The girlfriend's mom seem oblivious to our concerns and is calling the shots as a go-between our son and us parents. We are aware from his previous bragging to eldest brother that they are in a sexual relationship , and that since his move, has stopped all his extra mural sports and Cadet attendance. We did not try and bring up our son with this arrangement in mind and wonder why the mother is 'protecting' him. From conversations with the mum, and our son, the family has had a chequered past, which distresses us even further. Individually, 2 of us are attending family counseling this weekend, with the aim of eventually getting the 4 of us together at a session; this again on the suggestion by the mom - its starting to feel like a delaying tactic to keep our son long-term. Please offer any suggestions as to how to speed up the process + not be reliant on the girlfriend's mother for all our news (the school counselor does check in on our son but can't be solely on his case). A final idea would be the possibility of having our son stay somewhere neutral away from any influences, while this whole event gets investigated and resolved - we would appreciate any feedback including legal possibilities. thanks ... View more