Is there not some kind of independent family mediation service your friend can apply to? If it goes to court this is likely to be what the court will put in place but court proceedings can take time and social workers are snowed under.
He needs to go to a solicitor first and he will get one free session. but then if they advice him to go for official shared access theywill have to go to mediation first . If she agreed then it is just a matter of filling in some forms , if she refuses to go to mediation it will look bad on her , but she might do that as she will know he can't afford the court fees
I think he wants to let social services know what is going on but does not want to do it and then she refuses access. It could get nasty.
I think unfortunately he will have to take it one step at a time , and in the meantime perhaps the girl that told him all that was going on might even report it herself who knows .