I agree. You should believe your daughter. Your daughter may not like your boyfriend because her father ran away. She may also not like him because he hits her whenever you are looking the other way. If her father dissappeared a year ago and this guy was in the picture a year ago, did you have an affair? Is this why she hates him? Well if so then I say good for her. CAS doesnt take kids who make completely unwarrented accusations. They also don't take children from parents if the child shows no signs of abuse and 5 year olds don't know how to be deceptive enough to make up every bit of what it takes to get a child out of a home. Grow up and stand up for your daughter instead of your boyfriend. It sounds like your boyfriend was more important than her father and more important than her. Are you still seeing this guy? If so you should be ashamed of yourself.
I hope you choose to believe your daughter, instead of your boyfriend. You can always replace a boyfriend but you can not replace a child. It only takes a second to hurt a child. My niece's son was sexually abused when she was in the shower, at the store, and when she was sleeping. There is no way that you can be there every second. How did CAS get involved in the first place? Everytime I have seen a child removed for physical abuse, there were usually some kind of visible marks. Did she say why he hit her?
Tammy, have you ever left her alone with your boyfriend or are you ALWAYS there when he's around her? Does she have a bruise she's pointing to that you aren't 100% sure how it got there?
Five year olds do sometimes lie, you're right, but boyfriends of mothers are VERY common abusers of little children.
Best wishes.