Internet Libel?

[ask80]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Kentucky (but offender resides in Oklahoma)

There is a woman who is obsessed with my husband. They had a brief affair before he and I got married 4 years ago, and she has not been able to deal with him breaking things off with her. She had found me online and contacted me in the past, saying that he was leaving me, they were back together, they were going to have a baby, etc. It was all lies (yes, I do know for sure that she was lying) and I went to the police to file a report because she continued to email and text me. We had to change our cell phone and home phone numbers because she would call and hang up at all sorts of hours.

She continued to spin her fantasy about my husband on her Myspace page for a while, then stopped at the beginning of 2009 and deleted everything. I never responded to any of her writings online, because it was all her fantasy and just crazy, and didn't do any harm.

I googled her just for the heck of it on Saturday and found that she has numerous sites (youtube, twitter, tumblr, a wedding channel page) where she is again saying that she is with my husband and they are getting married in August. I told some of my friends about all of it, and a couple of them decided (unwisely) that they should tell her that she is crazy. I did NOT tell them to do so, and they did it before telling me that they had said anything.

So now she thinks I said it, and she is retaliating. She has posted on my youtube account a threat to my career: Keep up all your harassments u heinous parasite. Whatever school ur teaching at they will get copies of all of ur harassments and ur order to stand trial for aggravated harassment, as soon as our attorney finds ur address we can serve u papers. She also calls me out by my full name, and says that I have threatened her with a rifle (I have never engaged her comments, and have not communicated with her since 3 years ago when I told her to stop contacting me and I was going to the police). She is making it look like I am the one harassing and threatening her, saying I am mentally ill. She has written on her friend's page that my husband says I am psychotic and I have the mind of a murderer. She has written on another of her friend's pages that I stalked her at her home. She has gone beyond having this fantasy to herself, and is telling her family &/or friends that she and my husband are taking action against me. That's actually beyond creepy, IMO. I have saved screen shots of everything, and even have some shots of the things she said online 3 years ago.

Wouldn't this be considered libel? What can I do about her? With my job as a teacher, I can not have things written online saying that I have this type of personality. She has also used my husband's full name and rank (he is a military officer), which could jeopardize his career if his superiors ever saw and thought he was having an affair. Any advice is helpful.

 

[quincy]

What this woman wrote about you could be considered libelous, yes.

There are one year statute of limitations for defamation actions in both Kentucky and Oklahoma. Anything defamatory that was published over a year ago, therefore, could not be used to support a defamation suit in either of these states, however the woman's more recent postings potentially could.

An attorney in your area could take a look at what exactly has been published about you and can give you a better idea of your legal options after a review of all of the facts. The attorney can also go over with you the pros and cons of filing a defamation suit and let you know whether a suit against this woman would be worth the high cost of pursuing.

Defamation lawsuits are not only expensive, especially when more than one state is involved, they can also be as harmful to careers as any defamatory postings can be. A court action becomes a publicly accessible record.

I suggest you contact the sites where the objectionable postings appear and ask that this material be deleted. Depending on the content, the sites may comply with your request without a court order.

A cease and desist letter sent to this woman from your attorney could also be enough to stop her from posting false information about you. The cease and desist letter can advise this woman that legal action is being considered and may be pursued against her if she does not immediately remove all false postings about you and your husband from their places on the internet.

Restraining orders can often be used to help protect against threats and harassment, but these are rarely issued by a court when the parties involved live in different states.

Good luck.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

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