I have real problems with CPS, but this is clearly a time where the child is in a position where he needs to be protected from the father. I wish I had a photo of this guy to post here, because I saw him on local television this morning and he is one freaky-looking dude.
It sounds as if this kid has been beaten for years, and it's not going to get any better. I can only imagine what the father would be using in another five years.
Such a situation as exists here should be handled by local police and the district court, without the intervention of CPS. 300,000 volts of electricity will affect an 8 year old boy, with a small frame, far more severely than a full framed adult. What happened here is assault and battery, and the stepfather should receive the full measure of punishment Texas law allows. But the case should be handled by the courts and criminal justice, not social welfare. If the mother cannot supervise the child, she, or the court, should turn the child over to a church or private orphanage or give him up for private adoption.
Severe abuse of children has occured throughout history, and will likely continue until the Second Coming of Christ. There will always be "rotten apples" like the stepfather; however, there is an old saw that bad cases like this make for bad law. CPS agencies grew out of such bad cases, and now are empowered to intervene when a child is spanked in public or to repress homeschooling. They need to be abolished in the name of Constitutional rights and limited government.