Liable/Defamation

[spklav97]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana
I have received a letter from my ex-mother-in-law stating that my ex-wife has accused me of raping and beating her repeatedly throughout our marriage. This is not the first time the accusation has been made of me beating her. She did knock it up a notch with the rape accusation though. She also insinuated that I touch my daughters inappropriately. Normally, I would ignore these things, but they have definitely interfered with my relationship with my son. I'm sick of this. This time they threatened me with bodily harm from my ex-father-in-law. I have been happily married for 7 years and with this woman for almost twelve years. There have never been any police reports or charges filed against me for anything like this during my past marriage or this one. Is there anything I can do?

[ecmst12]

Not without spending 5 years and thousands in legal fees.

[quincy]

Like ecmst said, pursuing a defamation action against your ex-wife would be time-consuming and expensive.

In addition, if your ex-wife is slandering you to her parents only (and the parents, for whatever reason, have been passing on these comments to you), a defamation suit would probably not be worth pursuing. It would be difficult to show that these comments made to you directly have caused you reputational injury. Reputational injury is a necessary element of defamation.

If, however, your ex-wife is defaming you to people other than her parents (to people in your community and/or to any children you and your ex-wife share), then you might want to consider consulting with an attorney, to go over all of the facts of your situation. The "publication" of false accusations of rape and child molestation presume some reputational injury.

The attorney may suggest, in either case, that you start with a cease-and-desist letter to your ex-wife. The cease-and-desist letter, drafted by the attorney, can state that the comments she is making are defamatory and she should stop making them or legal action may be considered. That may be all that is necessary to get her to leave you alone.

As for any threats of violence you receive, those can be reported to the police, and should be reported to the police if you fear the ex-father-in-law may carry out the threats.

One other avenue that you may want to explore is a civil harassment protection order which, if issued by the court based on a convincing showing by you of continued and repeated harassment from this family, could prevent your ex-wife and her family members from contacting you again - or have them facing arrest if they do.