AITA: Internet backs woman who wishes to ruin husband's therapist ex's career as she's a terrible mom

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Mothers are, more often than not, the safest harbor one can think of. However, for one individual, the situation is likely the opposite as he wants to stay away from his biological mother due to her increasingly odd behavior and ill-treatment.  

Recently, a woman shared her moral dilemma on Reddit’s r/AITA_WIBTA_PUBLIC subreddit, asking the other netizens whether she would be termed as an a*****e if she exposed her husband's ex-wife (Karen) for her inhumane treatment of their son.

The woman noted that as Karen is a therapist, she may lose her license if her behavior with her son and other shady practices are exposed. 

Woman shares her husband's ex-wife's mistreatment of their son

Giving the background of her situation, the woman, who goes by the username Helpful-Warthog-3413, wrote, "Buckle up. This is a long one. My husband, who I call Hubby, has a son with his ex-wife, Karen. After the divorce, Karen married Kevin. For the sake of simplicity, I will refer to the child as Son."

Later, the original poster (OP) added that Karen has another son as well, referring to him as "Older Son" or OS. However, the woman's post mainly dealt with Son and his strained relationship with Karen.

The user went on to write, "At 15, Son said he wanted to live with Hubby and I." 

Her husband’s ex being the "standard to which all other Karens aspire to Karen," the OP wrote that when Karen came to know about Son’s plan, she naturally went ballistic. When the OP and her family went to court to resolve the custody issue, the judge "awarded Hubby more custody, but denied Son’s request."

The OP shared that the reason was simply because the "judge did not want to deal with Karen." Meanwhile, the OP’s attorney advised them not to "push for more custody as it was very hard on Son as he suffers from a neurodevelopment disorder." With the judge’s verdict, though Son was not deliriously happy, he was somewhat content as "Karen lost some control over his life and that Hubby had a more equal footing."

For the next two years, the relationship between Karen and Son gradually aggravated, to the extent that he "would get annoyed when she called or text and became more angry at our home." Nevertheless, the OP clarified that it was not the way Son usually behaves, and would only be triggered when his mother tried to contact him.

Since there wasn't much evidence, the Redditor could not go to court. However, things got worse as she recalled, "One afternoon, Karen got into a heated argument with Son. Son had to walk home from school in a heavy rain storm, while Karen sat at home. By the time Son got home, he was completely soaked and cold. Karen found this hilarious and refused to let Son change until she took a photo of him."

This incident left a bad mark, as a few months later when OS and Son were together "Karen decided to tell OS the story of Son walking home in the rain and shared the photo." When Son became upset, Karen told him not to "be a baby" and continued to mock him. OP described it as akin to "throwing gasoline on a fire."

Karen faked a medical emergency to guilt Son

"Eventually, Karen stormed off and the boys heard a loud thud. Karen claimed Son upset her and it trigger her cardiac condition, which caused her to collapse. Karen said she broke her arm when she collapsed. Son was inconsolable," the OP further shared in her post.

However, they later found "inconsistencies in Karen’s story." "Karen refused medical treatment for her 'injuries' and her broken arm miraculously healed the next day. Karen used this 'medical emergency' to guilt Son for the next few days and even blamed the entire thing on Son," recounted the Redditor. 

Things between Son and Karen "deteriorated rapidly after that night." OP noted, "Son said he lost the little bit of respect he had for her. My heart broke for him, but Hubby and I were always ready to listen and help Son however we could."

Karen’s torture would not end as the OP wrote, "Fast forward and Son is almost an adult and his relationship with Karen is even worse. Karen and Kevin belittle Son on a consistent basis. They refused to prepare food for Son when he was sick, push the responsibility of the dog and puppy on Son, and insist that he does chores at inappropriate times. Son struggles with sleep as Karen frequently makes him stay up late to watch TV or so he can participate in 'family time.'"

Things got even worse when Karen "started playing Son’s favorite video game" and started using him as a "game guide" due to his intricate knowledge of the game. 

Karen's ill-treatment led Son to run away from home

"At first, Son didn’t mind and was happy to help Karen learn how to play the game. In her true fashion, Karen made the experience intolerable. She would badger Son into helping her, to the detriment of his schoolwork or sleep and generally treat him badly. This week, things got heated between Karen and Son. Karen complained to Kevin and he yelled at Son, calling him selfish and an a*****e," shared OP. 

She then recalled, "That was the night Hubby received a text from Son that will be burned in my memory forever. Son sent a goodbye text to Hubby and ran away. Karen and Kevin didn’t know Son ran away, but the security camera provided all the evidence we needed. Karen’s casually told Hubby, 'Well, what I’m about to tell you won’t make you feel any better. Son isn’t here and he left his phone behind.'"

"Karen refused to call emergency services because she didn’t want Son labeled as a delinquent. I called emergency service, OS, and anyone who lived close to Son," added OP, before noting that Son walked away in the cold without taking his coat.

"We began to search the house with the police, in case Son came back to warm up. Fortunately, Son was spotted not far from his home by Kevin. When Son saw Kevin, he sprinted the opposite direction to avoid him. Son was found by the police and relieved him of the knife he was carrying. This is when we learned Son was planning to end his life. Fortunately, the cold temperatures prevented him from succeeding," recounted the Redditor.

"Son was driven back to his home and immediately asked for Hubby. Son refused Karen and Kevin. The police upheld his request. After lots of hugs, Son agreed to go to the hospital, but still refused to see Karen or Kevin. Hubby, OS, and I were allowed to be with Son. Karen wouldn’t accept this and threatened to sue the hospital if the denied her request. Of course, the hospital complied," continued OP.

Meanwhile, they changed Son’s hospital as "Son asked us to tell Karen that he doesn’t want to see Kevin, hear anything about him, or even hear his name. I relayed that information to her today and she brought up Kevin in front of Son moment later."

"After our visit, she sent an angry text to Hubby telling him he has not right to tell her not to mention Kevin and not to act like Son’s therapist. I the past 48 hours, Karen has gone out of her way to keep Hubby in the dark about Son and disregarded all of Son’s requests," noted OP before revealing that Karen is a therapist.

This moment was particularly epiphanic for the OP as she realized, "Karen doesn’t care about Son. She is worried about maintaining her image and control. She even lied directly to Hubby and I, stating that her or Kevin never speaks poorly to Son. Now, I am done."

OP is done being civil and wants to "make sure Karen cannot do this to anyone else."

Karen's shady practices

Giving a background of her country’s system, the woman elaborated, "In my country, parents have to report income to their local county office. This helps the county to determine how much a parent should pay in child support. Karen has been working for two years and has not reported her income to the county office. This is not legal and can come with serious consequences. Also, as a therapist, she must maintain a clean criminal record. Failure to do so could make her unemployable."

Presenting her case to the internet, the woman finally asked whether she would be termed as a*****e if she outed Karen for all her wrongdoings.

"WIBTA if I exposed Karen to the county office and jeopardized her career and livelihood so she cannot cause this type of damage to anyone else?" asked OP to fellow Redditors. 

Redditors encourage OP to go ahead and report Karen

After reading the long post, Redditors encouraged the woman to expose her husband's ex-wife to the county office, arguing that if this is Karen's real face then she might have been harming some of her clients. 

One explained, "No - you're reporting a problem with compliance. It is HER actions that would ruin her career. She needs to learn to live with the consequences." However, they also added as an additional note thinking of Son's well-being, "That being said, make sure SON is in a safe place before this comes to a head. Is he now old enough to live with you and hubby, without the courts permission? Because we all know that Karen is going to go ballistic when the - pardon the term - fit hits the shan."

Someone else gave the OP the idea to record Karen's behavior as it would strengthen the case. They wrote, "And if you want to do this properly.... record her behaviour too. Then send that to her professional board. With crib notes about her abuse. See where that gets her. And report the financial fraud. And laugh when you tell her it was you." They did add a warning: "Just remember she can fling s**t too."

"Absolutely 100% destroy her," declared another Redditor, before noting, "She doesn't deserve any kids or her job. Also, take Kevin down with her. Oh, and get those poor dogs out of the house before they have a chance to take out their anger on the dogs."

"Absolutely expose her and take her back to court to try to amend the custody arrangement," stated another user. They also referenced the judge's verdict hoping that with all that happened in between the verdict may change this time. "After him attempting to end his life to get away from them I suspect that the judge may side in your favor this time," added the Redditor.

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