frustrated and wanting answers

[Vslaughter]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TEXAS
I have been accused in the course of a custody fight thru cps of threatening to bomb a building full of people. My exhusbands new wife told a school secretary the same information and then told her that she was calling Child Protective Services. She also accused my husband and I of beating our children and many many other horrendous accusations in the course of the last two years. She has turned our lives into a nightmare. When my husband in the presence of a witness had my exhusbands wife on speaker phone he asked her why she named him in her complaint, and she stated that it was because he lived here. That was the complaint she accused him of beating the boys. I am a federal contractor who has to have a security clearance to work on the installation and my husband is a state employee who is certified to work with children. so she is not only throwing around false accusations, but threatening both of our jobs in the process. CPS, the DA, the Police Department, none of them seem to want to do anything to stop this. There has to be legal recourse for this behaviour. What can I do??

 

[quincy]

There is nothing you can do about the reports made to CPS or the police department. There is a qualified privilege that attaches to these reports, which allows for individuals to make reports of crimes (known or suspected) without fear of civil liability over what they report.

CPS and police reports are not considered true. What is said in these reports needs to be investigated to determine their truth or falsity.

If someone files a report knowing it is false, and it can be shown that the person filed it with malicious intent, then the state can take action against the false-filer - although the state will usually only spend the time, money and energy to prosecute a filer of a false report when the state has expended even more of its time, money and energy investigating the crime. The recent "bubble boy" story is such a case.

What you CAN do is tell the new wife to knock it off, or have an attorney tell her for you through a cease and desist letter. You could also consider filing a defamation suit, if you feel your reputation, or the reputation of your husband, has been injured severely enough to warrant the expense of pursuing a court action against the new wife.

Because court actions are, for the most part, public, a lawsuit may have a more detrimental effect on your husband's job and yours than the actual defamatory statements made by the new wife. For this reason, the pros and cons of any legal action must be weighed carefully. You should consult with a Texas attorney and review all of the facts of your situation. The attorney can best advise you as to whether filing a lawsuit is in your best interests.

Good luck.