My daughter is scared of her mother

Hi all,This may be a request for advice or I may just be offering my problems to the ether called the internet. My 8yo daughter has been having a lot of conflict with her mother when she's at her mother's house (we're divorced). There's plenty of yelling from both, time outs where 8yo is locked in her room, and just an overall adversarial relationship. She used to be very close with her mother, but over the last year, I've become the one with whom she shares her thoughts and feelings. Our relationship has become really great, she's a wonderful kid - as sweet as can be at my house. She's helpful, sweet, and loving. She's developmentally-delayed, but has made great progress and does very well academically. My ex and I were operating on a temporary schedule where I had my girls for 6 evenings out of 14, and she had the rest. Our court-ordered parenting plan says I'm to have 5 but temp agreements are fine but are also voidable. Based on having 6 days for 4 years, I filed for a modification based on status quo. My ex got pissed and voided the temporary agreement, so the court order prevails until the case is done in July. My 8yo was very hurt. She said she wants more time with me, is always angry with her mother, is afraid of her mother's heavy discipline (being dragged to her room and having the door locked), and won't hug, kiss, or talk about anything beyond her school day with her mother. She also told me that until last June, her mother spanked her 1-2 times per week, mostly for trying to sleep in her mom's room. I know, it's screwed up. There were a lot of sleep problems at her mom's for a while, and her mom said that when 8yo tried to sleep in her room, she was put on the couch for the night. She left out the part where 8yo was spanked and cried herself to sleep. My daughter's disclosure of this was recorded on my iPhone.I have a meeting with my attorney tomorrow about the new information. During the second half of our marriage, The mom was emotionally abusive to me and physically abusive to me once, but seemed like an attentive and kind mother (she's actually neither, but not neglectful).Anyone have experience with this? I don't know that I have a case or not. If not, there may be other options.This is keeping me awake at night. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2pM3sDL