Accusations Versus Reality
July 2nd 2009 03:04
Many years ago, a nice young couple moved in across the street from me. A less than nice family lived down the street, two houses away. They had children, I had children. The young couple were expecting their first. The nice young husband was a teacher and the wife was planning to give up her retail job and stay at home to raise their baby.
The not so nice family loved to cause trouble, it was their entertainment. They invented insults and caused several fights in the neighborhood. My kids avoided them because they were rude and tried to cause fights between others. They went so far as to call the police on my oldest daughter because she dared to look at their house when she walked by it on her way to school. My daughter was told never to look at their house again! When the nasty kids threw rocks at my home and broke a window, I had to call the police so my homeowners insurance would cover the damage. I was told not to bother them and that I had no proof of who threw the rock (in spite of the fact that I witnessed it personally).
The nice young couple wound up taking sides (my side) and the nasty people decided it might be fun to destroy them. When the nice young wife gave my kids a box of old clothes to play with, the nasty neighbors called the police and invented a story about the nice young man having little girls dress up for him. I had to explain to the police that no such thing happened, since I knew all about it. The nasty neighbors persisted in accusing the couple of all sorts of things. They printed up fliers about the nice young husband being a child molester. They put them all over town.
The bottom line was that the nice young couple lost their baby and their home from the stress of fighting the accusations. He lost his teaching job. They finally wound up getting a divorce due to the ever growing accusations. When he went to trial, his accusers backed down and laughed about it, saying it was just a joke.
They had done nothing wrong, folks. Their lives were ruined because of lies and trash talk by people who always seemed to get away with everything.
The reason that I'm writing this post is to let everyone know that words matter. Making false accusations have consequences for everyone involved. The innocent usually suffer more than the guilty, too. If you know someone who has been accused (even falsely) of harming children, do them a favor and don't put them in the position of having to prove that they did no wrong. Some kids lie for attention, and some parents encourage it for the fame or the money. And some people make false accusations because they are just plain rotten.
The not so nice family loved to cause trouble, it was their entertainment. They invented insults and caused several fights in the neighborhood. My kids avoided them because they were rude and tried to cause fights between others. They went so far as to call the police on my oldest daughter because she dared to look at their house when she walked by it on her way to school. My daughter was told never to look at their house again! When the nasty kids threw rocks at my home and broke a window, I had to call the police so my homeowners insurance would cover the damage. I was told not to bother them and that I had no proof of who threw the rock (in spite of the fact that I witnessed it personally).
The nice young couple wound up taking sides (my side) and the nasty people decided it might be fun to destroy them. When the nice young wife gave my kids a box of old clothes to play with, the nasty neighbors called the police and invented a story about the nice young man having little girls dress up for him. I had to explain to the police that no such thing happened, since I knew all about it. The nasty neighbors persisted in accusing the couple of all sorts of things. They printed up fliers about the nice young husband being a child molester. They put them all over town.
The bottom line was that the nice young couple lost their baby and their home from the stress of fighting the accusations. He lost his teaching job. They finally wound up getting a divorce due to the ever growing accusations. When he went to trial, his accusers backed down and laughed about it, saying it was just a joke.
They had done nothing wrong, folks. Their lives were ruined because of lies and trash talk by people who always seemed to get away with everything.
The reason that I'm writing this post is to let everyone know that words matter. Making false accusations have consequences for everyone involved. The innocent usually suffer more than the guilty, too. If you know someone who has been accused (even falsely) of harming children, do them a favor and don't put them in the position of having to prove that they did no wrong. Some kids lie for attention, and some parents encourage it for the fame or the money. And some people make false accusations because they are just plain rotten.
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Comment by Moonfair
The Spirit World
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The Elderly
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Why didn't the nice young family turn around and sue them for libel and defamation of character? They ruined the lives of two innocent people.
Then I would have the police raked over the coals for not doing their jobs "to protect and serve"! You can call the mayor or governor about them. Then write a piece in your local paper about it, just like you did here.
I know this does not help much, but I am a true believer in "what goes around comes around" and those people will get theirs ten fold. Everything will start going wrong for them. It usually does.
Comment by Someone
Evil Pleasures
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Let's Get Down To Business
This whole thing started discussing MJ... You have seen firsthand the destructive power of false accusations, I was just saying that it is possible the same thing happened to the late Mr. Jackson... that was all.
Comment by Lester Caudill
Round Politics
Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
This was 30 years ago in a very corrupt county. The young couple were so devastated they fell apart. My attempts at fighting back didn't get me very far, either. We didn't have the internet back then or maybe things would have been different. Maybe not...
Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
My whole point is about not putting yourself in the position of further accusations. I mean if someone accuses you of robbing a bank, don't go to the bank with a mask on!
Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
I had a chance to talk to Meredith MacRae and asked her why such a completely unpleasant person was being rewarded. Apparently her kids had written to the show and talked about how terrific she was. They obviously didn't do much checking...
They moved away not long after that and the whole neighborhood breathed a sigh of relief. I have no idea what happened to them after that...