Defamation in DCFS case

[SamFan]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Illinois

The people involved are very close to me but due to the very delicate nature of the situation, I'm just going to call them X,Y, & Z. They are three pre-teen girls. Z confided in X&Y regarding certain acts she was allegedly performing on younger family members( I will not go into details). X & Y both reported the information to their respective parents and the authorities were called and DCFS was brought in. During the long investigation process, Z posted a death threat for X & Y including conotations of solicitation of such threat to be carried out on a very public website. The police were once again called and upon this, the parents of Z filed suit against the other parents for defamation of character. Is this possible??!!! Is it possible to sue someone for reporting possible abuse and a very public threat???

 

[Just Blue]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Illinois

The people involved are very close to me but due to the very delicate nature of the situation, I'm just going to call them X,Y, & Z. They are three pre-teen girls. Z confided in X&Y regarding certain acts she was allegedly performing on younger family members( I will not go into details). X & Y both reported the information to their respective parents and the authorities were called and DCFS was brought in. During the long investigation process, Z posted a death threat for X & Y including conotations of solicitation of such threat to be carried out on a very public website. The police were once again called and upon this, the parents of Z filed suit against the other parents for defamation of character. Is this possible??!!! Is it possible to sue someone for reporting possible abuse and a very public threat???

Yes. Anyone can sue anybody for anything. But...judging by your post, it is unlikely they will win!

 

[dallas702]

The authorities are taking "death threats" from anyone at any age very seriously these days. The parents of Z are lucky Z wasn't placed in custody until all these issues are resolved (which could be many months).

The sexual experimentation of a preteen with younger, older, or same-age siblings is so common that DCFS shouldn't have been called in. X and Y probably should have just kept quiet without proof. X and Y's parents should have gone to Z's parents before involving DCFS. What could have been resolved with a little parental involvement has now become on the edge of criminal prosecution. Ridiculous!

Z's parents are understandably angry, but have no case for defamation.