Internet Slander?

[starsrose]

What is the name of your state? N.C

Okay here is one for you.i work on a non-profit recovery based site.Through admins on another recovery site we found out one of our admins may be a sexual preditor.We were told he had lured women into private chat and webcams from these chatrooms.When we found out we did some research,found his phone number listed as another person.we had someone dial the number and when the phone was answered it was answered as the "other" person,not the name we were given by this man.So we banned him from the site.Now we did not tell anyone outside the admins of the site Why we banned him just that he would not be back and we would miss him.Now over the next few days we were contacted by numerous people as to Why this man was banned,we told them in each case that this was not a public thing and was not meant to go further than the admins on the site,and that we were sorry he had involved them but we couldnt tell them why because we didnt want to slander him(honest folks thats what we said)

Now I get a call this evening from him saying he will be filing slander lawsuits against me and one of the other admins from the site.

Now this also has to be looked at because it may be relavent,this is a recovery based site ,like AA,NA the emphasis being it is an anonymous group, this mans full name has never been posted on our site except by him
there is no status or monies to be lost here as i said its an anonymous group where no last names are given except by the person themselves

now here are my questions
A) does he have a case?
b) since there was no disscussion outside of our admins is it slander?

thanks for any advise SR

 

[JETX]

does he have a case?

Based SOLELY on your post, it would appear that he does not.

since there was no disscussion outside of our admins is it slander?

Again, based on your post, it would appear to NOT be defamation. Especially since you never identified the person.... and presumably did NOT provide enough information to associate any negative comments to THIS person.

 

[meganproser]

I agree with JETX.

You don’t seem to have any evidence that the guy has done anything wrong, so don’t imply that you do when you are questioned about him. It IS possible to defame someone by innuendo and you must also take care not to cast they guy in a false light.

The guy’s phone number did not match the name he gave you. What do you think that proves? There are many legitimate explanations for such a thing and if you ASK the guy, he may be happy to enlighten you.

I hope you have not been “played” by someone who has a grudge against this guy. Social sabotage is the weapon of choice on the Net these days. It’s important that people refrain from acting on negative information until they see actual evidence of another’s wrongdoing.

 

[starsrose]

The guy’s phone number did not match the name he gave you. What do you think that proves? There are many legitimate explanations for such a thing and if you ASK the guy, he may be happy to enlighten you.

this is true it may be explained away,but that does not answer why when we called the number he gave us as his and asked for the person who the number was listed to (different name) he asnwered this is he

and also when we checked around we found he has done this at two other websites and been banned for it.We were told by the admins of two non related sites he had been banned for his actions with women.
If we were warned by two different places about his actions isnt that a little more than hearsay?see our goal here was not to defame him it was to protect people from being harraassed by someone we had been told (by several places)was a sexual preditor,we didnt want anyone to get hurt

 

[meganproser]

>>but that does not answer why when we called the number he gave us as his and asked for the person who the number was listed to (different name) he asnwered this is he

So then, he is using an alias on the Net but giving out his true phone number. He’s not really trying to hide then is he?

I know an awful lot of people who will not use their real names on the Net and many of them would never have given you their real phone number (which leads you to their real name) either. These people have nothing to hide. They are merely security conscious.

>>and also when we checked around we found he has done this at two other websites and been banned for it.We were told by the admins of two non related sites he had been banned for his actions with women.

I find it alarming that so many people on the Net think they know how to do an investigation and then ACT on what they THINK they know.

You sound like a person who truly made an effort to be fair and to look out for the best interests of everyone involved. You are far more responsible than many in that once convinced of this guy’s guilt, you refrained from spreading your “findings” around. Good for you!

>>If we were warned by two different places about his actions isnt that a little more than hearsay?

I guess that depends on what these places offered you as EVIDENCE of his wrongdoing. The NUMBER of people repeating a story does not make it true. I refer you to the Urban Legends site!

>>see our goal here was not to defame him it was to protect people from being harraassed by someone we had been told (by several places)was a sexual preditor,we didnt want anyone to get hurt

Don’t you think he should have been given the opportunity to hear and answer the questions you have about him? What exactly did you have to lose by giving him that opportunity? You tried, convicted and sentenced the guy and he was never even permitted in the courtroom.

This guy may be the lowest form of life. I’m just trying to give you some food for thought because this sort of thing happens to innocent people all the time.