Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Tennessee
Malicious False Child Protective Services Allegations
I recently ended a friendship between my 8 year old son and a neighbor's child after experiencing many personal disagreements and values differences with the child's mother. Just days after our relationship was severed, Child Protective Services appeared at my home with a list of severe allegations pertaining to my home environment and the care of my child. Within minutes of talking to my husband and I and looking at our home, the investigator said it was clear that the report was a retaliatory claim to cause my family undue harm and headache and he asked us if we knew who would purposely do this (since he could not tell us who made the report). We are certain of the accuser based on info provided to us. When we stated our neighbor's name, the investigator said that name was very familiar and had been potentially involved in other false allegations/investigations against other people. The law protects people who make claims that they believe are truthful. But what measures can be taken against someone who makes false, slanderous accusations to the authorities in a direct effort to cause harm to someone (in this case, a retaliatory accusation to CPS immediately after a friendship was ended)? If CPS doesn't pursue action, can I?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Malicious False Child Protective Services Allegations
This is a topic near and dear to my heart. In fact, I have written a lengthy article on this topic for a law newspaper, which you can read by going to http://riskmgmt.biz/dhs.htm
Unless you prosecute this person for false and malicious allegations, the person will go right on abusing the system. CPS is required by law to investigate every complaint -- even those that sound frivolous. CPS is also protected by law from refusing to disclose the name of the person who filed the complaint.
So if you prosecute this person, and she refuses to admit she filed the complaint, then you have no proof and no cause of action -- just your suspicions that she is the one who did this.
You could try to make a circumstantial case that she is the only person who could have come up with that kind of slanderous information, but a judge will likely say any person, in theory, could slander another. So nothing is proved.
I don't think anything would be accomplished to fight fire with fire: phone in a complaint to CPS about the way this woman is raising her child.
If you can't win in a court of law, you might try the court of public opinion. But you risk being charged with slandering her if you say anything false about her.
I am upset always when I read about bogus and harmful false allegations to either CPS or adult protective services.
Mike Guth
http://riskmgmt.biz
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