parental rights before custody

[help!]

hi all! just wondering if anybody knew if it's legal to keep my daughter from her father until the court date?
i live in wisconsin and was just wondering if anyone could give me some advice or knowledge on parental rights before a court ordered custody is set? i was never married but lived with the father of my daughter for almost two years after she was born. i moved back home with my family in the beginning of december and her father has seen her twice and has given me nothing in helping support her. he calls to make arrangements to pick her up and then calls and cancels at the last minute. even on her birthday. the last time i agreed for him to see her, i asked him to meet me at the police station to drop her off and he flipped out and has been harrassing me ever since. he was never abusive to her, but was to me, unfortunatley i never reported it. i don't believe that he would ever harm her, but he does tend to get out of control when he is upset and doesn't think before he acts. i'm just worried about her being alone with him, and without me being there. i am in the process of getting a court date for custody, but they said it would be 4-6 weeks to open my case. i know he has a right to see her and it's not fair to keep him from her, so any advice would be helpful! thanks.

first of all make sure you document EVERYTHING. second, though its the hardest thing in the worl to do, dont keep her from him. if the judge sees youve been open and willing, they will be more likely to side with you. other than that, meeting at a police station is a great idea. and if he doesnt agree to that, than thats basically him refusing to see his child. you can go in front of the judge and say you didnt feel safe dropping off or picking up your child in any other way because of past experiences, and if he isnt willing it looks bad on him. on the other side though, the judge will ask if it was possible for a friend or relative to make the exchange, and if it was possible and you didnt make the effort it would look bad on you.

Yes he does have a right to at least some visitation--don't prevent it completely unless a safety or other serious issue can be justified to a judge later.