Dad Gambled Away My Collage Fund. Do I Have Any Recourse?

Hello Reddit.

I found out over Christmas that my father has spent all but $12 from a 529 that was setup for me to attend college and am absolutely devastated. My mother is at a loss for words and hasn't been able to speak with me yet. Every time we see each other she starts crying and has to go to another room.

My father and mother split up a little over 2 years ago and the divorce was finalized this past July. My father was great up until a casino opened near our home. He went with some friends a few times and it was all down hill after that. He controlled the finances and my mother was in the dark for most of it till her car got repossessed and the lights / water were turned off. Things moved quickly after that and the whole thing turned into a shit tornado. My mother took me to a property owned by my grandmother and we've been here ever since.

The divorce was a mess with the two of them fighting over everything. In the end my mother got full custody and any money from the house or any assets was basically a wash. The only thing my mother kept talking about was that i still had money for college. She claimed it should be around 40-50k since it was setup when i was born and money was put in each month and by family over the years. The only problem was she did not have access to the account as my father held the proverbial keys and fought tooth and nails to keep it.

While my mother did win the college money in the divorce my father still refused to give the passwords. My mother didn't get around to having everything reset till she had some time off this Christmas. After filing all the paperwork she got access only to find the account fully drained of everything but $12 about 18 months ago. I was with her when she logged in for the first time and we both couldn't believe what we were looking at. $42,391.21 at the time evaporated in 7 different withdrawals.

I'm a high school senior (18) who just started narrowing down the colleges i want to apply to. Basically every college on my list is now gone unless i want to take out massive student loans. I've had to switch gears an look into local state schools. Thankfully it seems i can get mostly if not a full free ride in a state school since were not well off. At least for the classes. Books / room and board will still be on me.

I guess my only real question is do i have any recourse to ever see this money from my father? He's still a penny less gambling addict that lives in his car. His whole life is Work > Casino > Repeat. Is what he did a crime? Should i report it to the police. From what i read online my parents are who own the account so technically can do whatever they wanted with the money in the account.

I've been working PT since i was 16 so i have a little money set aside. How can i approach my mom so i can talk with her and let her know it will be ok? I've just been giving her space for the past few days since she cries just seeing me. .

Thanks