False Allegation of Sexual Abuse

[SusanL12]

Hello everyone. Recently, a dear friend of mine was falsely accused of sexual abuse of a minor and arrested about 8 days after the allegation was made. It is a FALSE ALLEGATION, and from the research I have done, false allegations of sexual abuse, more commonly occurring during divorce and custody cases, but also happening in other situations, are becoming an alarming epidemic.

I am aware that in matters of false sexual abuse allegations, anyone accused is assumed to be guilty until proven innocent. And most people who deliberately make such accusations, knowing them to be false, are fully aware of that. There are also no criminal penalties for those who purposely and maliciously make false accusations, which has made the problem even worse, and has served to lock up completely innocent people for crimes they never committed.

My question is, how can he fight effectively against these allegations when his public defenders are advising him to remain silent until the trial? I have found, from attorneys and private investigators who specialize in defending false allegations, that juries expect innocent persons to mount an aggressive and assertive defense on their own behalf, not adopt a "wait and see" attitude. Such a poor legal strategy is only going to result in a wrongful conviction. I'm not about to stand by and allow that to happen. D has a preliminary hearing scheduled for next month. By law, all defendants are entitled to confront their accusers, and have their attorney(s) question them at the hearing, to see if there is sufficient grounds to proceed to trial. They are also entitled by law to produce witnesses on their behalf. Does he not have those same rights as well? Thanks in advance for any insights or suggestions you can offer.

SusanL

[aaron]

I am not sure what these lawyers and investigators are telling you, or how it relates to trial strategy. If your friend would be more comfortable with retained counsel, perhaps you can help your friend raise the money to hire a private defense lawyer.

[Radioman]

Hire a private attorney, The PD's are no use. They neither intend or expect to go to trial. But if convicted your freind could have his life ruined. An you are right you are considered guilty until you prove that you are innocent. My question is how do you prove that something didn't happen. That is tough. This is an ugly situation and can ruin your friends life. Spend whatever but get a real attorney and a good one at that.

[nnyw]

The same kind of charges have been filed against my daughter. My daughter pissed off the wrong family, lived with then for a short while. We are currently going through this same situation.Get your friend a criminal defense lawyer ASAP. I have heard Public defenders get paid by the case, so the more they do, the more money they make. So the quality of defense your friend needs is not going to be a priority.
We hired a lawyer for my daughter, we are a middle class family who had to take out a loan to pay for it. It is surprising how bad a malicious person can screw up a person's life with this kind of claim. My daughter wasn't even aware there was a warrant until they showed up at our house.They don't even get your side of the story! There really should a pass a law to hold malicious people accountable who file false claims against innocent folks.

[bjsdj]

I know exactly what you are talking about my husband of 35 years was accused by a family member last July, our life has been a living hell since, we have obtained an attorney but this thing just goes on and on. it has been almost a year now and it took them 8 1/2 months to even indict him, then they changed the charge from molestation to sexual battery. Here in GA where we are the young girl 15 nor her parents even filed the charge, the state did, so get ready and fight with everything you have.