For a large variety of reasons, one former spouse might falsely accuse another of child abuse, child molestation, domestic abuse, or neglecting their child. The family law attorneys here at The Kronzek Firm hear these allegations almost every day. One parent pointing the finger at the other parent, their former spouse, and claiming that the ex mistreated their child.
Not only do we deal with this on a daily basis, more importantly the family court judges do too. No matter the reason for the false, exaggerated or misstated accusation, if you find yourself in a situation like this, it is important that your attorneys act quickly to clear your name.
Begin with the thought that pretty much all of the judges in and around Lansing and mid-Michigan will err on the side of caution. Said another way, courts take these child abuse claims very seriously and often act before there is adequate chance to look at all of the evidence. Litigation, motions and court order can come very serious very quickly; allegations can be structured in a way that is hard to defend. The sooner your family law lawyer reacts to the allegations, the better.
That holds true whether the allegation of abuse is false, partially false, true or partially true. Obviously false allegation should be aggressively attacked. If a parent acted inappropriately toward their child, the case might be one of damage control. Those kind of decisions are best left in the hands of a highly experienced family law attorney. After decades of dealing with these issues, our attorneys are at the top of their game.
One CPS is involved, things get out of hand quickly
It is also important to understand just how quickly these allegations can spiral out of control. They are not always limited to custody or parenting time posturing. We often see them bleed over into CPS cases. When that happens, we often involve one of our Children’s Protective Services attorneys in the case.
Experience has taught us that Michigan CPS acts quickly and decisively when parents are accused of mistreating children. Finally, these cases sometimes become even more complex if the police become involved. Our criminal defense attorneys are involved with child abuse criminal charges all over Michigan.
To be clear, it is certainly possible, and not at all uncommon, for three separate cases to be pending in Michigan courts, against a parent with all of them being based on the very same allegations of child abuse or child neglect. There can be a custody or parenting time case; at the same time there can be a CPS case; and also at the same time there might be criminal charges filed by the Prosecuting Attorney on behalf of the state of Michigan. Our attorneys refer to this as the triple play.
False Allegations from Misunderstandings
One way that false accusations arise is really not malicious at all. Some false accusations simply stem from misunderstanding. This can actually happen quite easily when a child says something that ends up being misconstrued. That can mean that a parent misunderstood something the child says, or it might also mean that the child misunderstood something the parent said or did.
One example might be if a child makes an innocent statement like, “my daddy plays with me when he gives me a bath.” Although the child might not have meant anything more than what was literally said, adults might read more into this statement and believe that some kind of improper touching has occurred.
In a mere matter of hours, a statement like this one can end up in a court room with a request for an emergency order. Maybe a statement like this is combined with a couple other similar statements, and pretty soon the “evidence” is stacking up pretty high against you. It is not unusual for one of our attorneys to make an emergency appearance in a courtroom in Lansing, or in Charlotte, Howell or in St. Johns. (Ingham, Eaton, Livingston or Clinton County).
What Motivates False Allegations?
False allegations often do not stem from innocence. Oftentimes, parents are purposely accused of horrendous acts. Sometimes, people accuse their spouse of abuse during a divorce proceeding to gain some sort of advantage, such as custody of their children. Other times a parent is trying to curtail the other parent’s visitation time with the children. Perhaps worse, sometimes people accuse others of abuse simply out of spite and selfishness. Fortunately, most judges can see through these fake accusations. Indeed these kind of very serious allegations are not tolerated by the courts very well when they are untrue.
These days, any type of abuse is powerfully stigmatized. However, because of this stigma, being falsely accused of domestic abuse or child abuse can be very scary and even traumatizing. It has to be dealt with quickly, aggressively and by experts with many years of experience. Failing to do that can let the allegations spiral out of control.
What To Do If You Have Been Falsely Accused
If you have been falsely accused of child abuse, child neglect, child molestation, or domestic abuse, there are important steps you can take today to clear your name.
First, contact our family law attorneys today. This type of accusation should not be taken lightly and you need to act right away. Any delay is likely to work against you. Time is not your friend!
By calling The Kronzek Firm today, you can speak to one of our experienced false acusation lawyers. We have decades of experience clearing the names of parents like you!
Call us today at 517-866-1000, or send us an email!