My brother was falsely accused by his mother-in-law and brother-in-law of sexually assaulting my 3 year old niece. He was arrested before an investigation ever took place. His wife believes he did it. She was examined and found that she has never been sexual abused. She was coached by the grandmother and uncle. CPS ruled out my nieces statements because she did not have an outcry for help and that she was told to say those things about her daddy. The charges should soon be dropped because the DA does not have a case. What will happen to the people who made this allegations? We live in Texas.
Thanks.

Fr_Chuck

most likely not a single thing, many people will still beleive them and that CPS just could not prove it.

starfirefly

i believe you can sue for false alligations

JudyKayTee

Well, you can sue anybody for anything (basically) but winning is another matter - you would have to PROVE it was a malicious and unfounded report - completely unfounded and complete malicious. These cases are very, very difficult to prove, particularly if the child stated it was true, then found to have been coached and changed her story (children are really too young to testify). The legal thinking is often that the child will testify on behalf of whoever has her attention at any given moment, not clearly understanding the situation.

If you are thinking of suing the Police or Protection Agency for false arrest it is their duty to act upon a complaint and that probably is just what they did - erred on the side of caution.

I would be more concerned in making sure there is no arrest or other permanent record of this episode, that some day somebody doesn't ask you why you didn't register as a sex offender.

You would be amazed (or maybe not) how often these allegations surface in divorce and/or custody hearings - and there is little you can do. I know this is small comfort to you but the Courts don't want people to be "afraid" to report the possibility of abuse because they might get sued.

ScottGem

I'm assuming your brother is filing for divorce. As Judy said, he can try filing for defamation of character and slander. But as she said, its going to be very hard to prove.

JudyKayTee

I just noticed the original post said the charges SHOULD be dropped ("because the DA doesn't have a case"), not that they ARE dropped. Nothing can be done until the charges are disposed of and at that time I would make sure that any record of this is clear and concise and these charges don't follow your brother around. The DA should be helpful in this regard and I would think your brother has an Attorney - ?

And, as Scott said, I'd be running for Divorce Court and making sure the Court is aware of this episode when it sets up visitation. If your post is 100% correct I question the judgment of the Grandmother and uncle.