False Allegations to CPS

[Mrdetermined]

I live in Washington State. I am a single father, a full time student, and I also work. I filed a civil suit in small claims court in another state against who I will refer to here as the Defendants. The Defendants received there summons on September 28th. Two days later on September 30th a telephone call was placed to CPS here in Washington where I live. On October 7th another call was placed. In each of these calls allegations of physical and sexual abuse were made against me. It is unnecessary to go into all that comes under the microscope when one is accused of such crimes because we all know, and so I will leave out those details, but I will say that my 12-year old son and I have undergone intense scrutiny not only by CPS, but also by the police investigators. I have gotten word today that CPS is going to close the case early next week and the allegations are going to be unfounded.
Now, I got a bit suspicious that it was the Defendants, so I checked my older son’s phone bill for evidence. (In this scenario please consider my older son as hostile and working with the Defendants). What I found was that there are clues in my older son’s telephone calls that suggest an increase communication between he and the Defendants immediately after the summons was served. This communication along with the timing of the calls and the receipt of the summons is cause for me to really believe it was in fact the Defendants. I believe obtaining copies of the Defendants telephone records will certainly reveal the caller to CPS and also show a conspiracy between the Defendants and my son’s mother. My question is this. Can I petition superior court and get an order to have the Defendants phone records released to me? Is there another way to pursue this matter?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

[quincy]

There is a privilege that attaches to reports made to CPS and to the police, which protects any reporter of child abuse or neglect from legal actions arising from reports made in good faith.

There is little you can do to show that the reports made to CPS were made with malice, even if you were able to show that conversations took place between the defendants and your son prior to the reports being filed and investigated.

Sorry.

[Rexlan]

I agree with quincy.

The only other thing you can do is move your action to District Court (or other depending on value) and then go thru the discovery process. This would allow you to take a deposition, interrogatories and admissions. You may very well trick the defendant into an admission which could work as an element of malice which you would need to allege in the complaint. Unfortunately this could easily cost you several thousand dollars in attorney fees because you probably can not do it yourself.

It is a crummy trick and sometimes ( a lot actually) the privilege quincy speaks of is abused. That said you are probably better off letting it go and moving on.

[Blue Meanie]

Originally Posted by Mrdetermined

I live in Washington State. I am a single father, a full time student, and I also work. I filed a civil suit in small claims court in another state against who I will refer to here as the Defendants. The Defendants received there summons on September 28th. Two days later on September 30th a telephone call was placed to CPS here in Washington where I live. On October 7th another call was placed. In each of these calls allegations of physical and sexual abuse were made against me. It is unnecessary to go into all that comes under the microscope when one is accused of such crimes because we all know, and so I will leave out those details, but I will say that my 12-year old son and I have undergone intense scrutiny not only by CPS, but also by the police investigators. I have gotten word today that CPS is going to close the case early next week and the allegations are going to be unfounded.
Now, I got a bit suspicious that it was the Defendants, so I checked my older son’s phone bill for evidence. (In this scenario please consider my older son as hostile and working with the Defendants). What I found was that there are clues in my older son’s telephone calls that suggest an increase communication between he and the Defendants immediately after the summons was served. This communication along with the timing of the calls and the receipt of the summons is cause for me to really believe it was in fact the Defendants. I believe obtaining copies of the Defendants telephone records will certainly reveal the caller to CPS and also show a conspiracy between the Defendants and my son’s mother. My question is this. Can I petition superior court and get an order to have the Defendants phone records released to me? Is there another way to pursue this matter?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

http://forum.freeadvice.com/other-crimes-federal-state-4/single-father-cp-son-kidnapped-489893.html

[Mrdetermined]

Thanks so much for your reply. I do fear they are going to get away with this, but doesn't it look bad for them since they made the complaint to CPS immediatly after they recieved their summons? I mean doesn't this show a malicious intent, rather than a good faith report?

[quincy]

The CPS complaint filed after receipt of the summons does not necessarily indicate that the report made to CPS was done with malice.

You would need to show that the defendants' report to CPS was made without any justification or excuse. Perhaps the summons was impetus for the phone conversations between the defendants and your son, but it is entirely possible that what was related during the course of the conversations gave the defendants justification or excuse to make the report. Perhaps your son gave them a legitimate reason to contact CPS.

In addition to showing that the report was made without justification or excuse, you would need to show that the report made to CPS was done with a deliberate intent to do you harm, and not with an intent to protect your son from harm.

These are not easy proofs, and phone records alone will not be enough to support any action against the defendants.

Reporters of crimes and suspicions of crimes are not required to or expected to investigate the truth of what they report to CPS or the police. Investigating the truth of what is reported is left for the police and CPS.

I agree with Rexlan that the qualified privilege that provides immunity to reporters of crimes and suspected crimes can be abused. This abuse may be more frequent in divorce or custody disputes, but false reports can be filed against anyone who has an enemy (real or perceived). Although filing a knowingly false report is a crime, prosecuting those who file false reports is rare, unless the time and money the state has spent in their investigation is substantial, and unless there is solid proof that the reporter knew what was reported was false.

You can always run the facts by an attorney in your area.