(Twenty-first century, our world) Basically the father goes berserk after he finds out about something his son did, beats him into a state where his wife calls an ambulance, I'm assuming the father goes to jail, or can he (easily) get out of this? (I want the father in jail, how far would things have to go to get him there?)
No, there's no "easy out" for beating a minor. He would be arrested, charged, jailed, and, in all likelihood, would not be allowed to see his son anymore even after serving his time. The sentence would depend on jurisdiction, but we're talking years behind bars, not months. EDIT: If your story takes places in America, this will be a helpful state-by-state resource that will tell you what your character has to do to end up in jail and for how long. http://www.ndaa.org/pdf/ncpca_statues_penalties_child_assault_aug09.pdf
One would hope it would be years, but I suspect in the right circumstances someone could get away with not even going to jail. I assume for most people he would be removed from the home at the minimum until some therapist tells the court it's safe for him to go back.
A good lawyer can get a person out of a lot of bad things, but child endangerment and/or abuse is one of the few crimes left that nobody has any tolerance for. I'd be shocked to find a case where a man put a minor, even a 17-year-old minor, in the hospital and didn't end up serving time.
I agree, but I doubt it would take much Googling to find such a case. Face it ... This world can suck sometimes. However, back to the OP's question ... I think you have a lot of leeway for this situation in fiction. If you're dealing with a real world place, you could probably do a little research & find out exactly what the criminal code is for the area in question. You could even track down a lawyer in the area and ask them. I've randomly tracked down all sorts of people in professions I needed information about and told them I was writing a story and wanted to check a fact with them. The worse that will happen is you won't get a response, but you'd be amazed how many people out there are perfectly willing to offer up help in this manner. You might even find a legal forum website where you could ask. For your story, I think anything from a slap on the wrist, to a few years in jail, would be believable for most readers.
Child abuse very frequently does not result in criminal charges, including many, many cases where a child is hospitalized. Of course, beating a nearly-full-grown 17 year-old into a bloody pulp is harder to explain than a 6 year-old with a broken arm. If the damage was bad enough, it would seem likely that there would be criminal charges. But if the damage wasn't that bad, I could see no charges.
What is the jurisdiction where this is happening? I think it can vary greatly depending on state, our country, or continent.
The main thing that would put the father in jail is the only other witness (the mother) supporting the kid's version of what happened.
In a lot of cases the perpetrator successfully argues the older kid assaulted him first. Anything can happen. The perpetrator could have pals down at the police station. But in general, if there is another witness who contradicts the claims of the person who assaulted the young person, the assaulter will be charged and convicted. And depending on the state and what it's specifications are for assault, actually, the guy could go to jail for quite some time. If it looked like he tried to kill the kid (head injuries, stomping on internal organs, cutting), it could go to attempted murder. Further, many states have more severe punishments for assaulting a person with a disability. Pick a state and read their laws on assault. It's all online and easy to find.
