Men Seeking Child Custody - The Worst Tactic of All

[Antonia Eastwood]

It is an unspoken secret among family law attorneys. But I suspect
that every lawyer who specializes in family law, has seen the
accusation of child abuse or, worse, sexual abuse, pulled out of thin
air to be used in a child custody dispute.
Often this accusation is brought out well into the divorce process.
Other times it is part of the initial pleadings from the beginning.
The best advice I can give to you if this accusation is false is to
fight back. This is not a matter you can settle, negotiate or bargain
away. If you settle in anyway, the courts will almost always presume
there is some merit to the accusation (think about it from their point
of view, they really have to presume it is true in order to protect
the child).
Once this accusation is made, your divorce and child custody dispute
also becomes a criminal case. You could face jail time and then be
labeled a sexual predator for the rest of your life.
So if this accusation is untrue, fight it.
I am really passionate about this. A friend of mine had a relative who
was falsely accused of such a crime. Unfortunately this man lived in
another state and I wasn't licensed to practice law in that state, all
I could do was advise him.
The legal bills he was facing for the criminal charges were far beyond
what he could handle. He claimed that he couldn't contest the divorce
and child custody matters anymore because of the criminal charges.
So, against my advice, he settled the criminal claim. The result was
that he not only lost custody and any visitation rights with his
children forever, but he also was labeled a child predator and lost
his job, could never get a job of any value again, and was placed on a
child predator registry.
The only solution if you are falsely accused of abuse, is to fight it.
Borrow from family, sell everything you own if necessary, but do not
settle such a false charge against you.
I guarantee you will regret it for the rest of your life if you do.