Legal Question in Family Law in Pennsylvania
withdrawn pfa charges
I won my grandparents rights to visitation. My daughter had made false allegations against me and of course did not have any verification. So she set out to manufacture charges against me. She had filed a protection from abuse against me. However, when it went to court, she withdrew the charges. Does that order now float in cyberspace forever? Could it come back to haunt me? What can I do about her falsifying court documents and police reports? I don't want her to be able to bring this up in the future to be used against me again.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: withdrawn pfa charges
It often happens; unfortunately the text of the initial petition will stay online indefinitely (you are in Allegheny County?). If the allegations are completely false and scandalous you may be able to get a judge to seal the file and take it offline; but I've never done that. If your daughter actually falsified court documents it would be a criminal offense; but if you are saying she did not tell the truth then she is more the norm. They don't currently penalize people for lying in Family Court. The jails would bulge.
If she repeatedly files false PFA petitions a Judge could eventually curtail her ability to do so.