FALSELY ACCUSED AGAIN!

By: Dean Tong
September 12, 2008

NewsWithViews.com

The news stories that tapped me as an “expert wife beater” six months ago can now be laid to rest as I have been exonerated by the state attorney’s office in Florida. For those who have followed my trials and tribulations over the years and life’s work, you may recall I was first falsely accused by my first wife of allegedly molesting my three year-old daughter almost a quarter century ago.

Call it karma. Call it fate. Color it my calling from the one above, but I was chosen by Him to face false abuse allegations in my life (sexual child abuse and now domestic violence), defeat the same (which I’ve done now both times), and provide expert consultation to those wounded innocents who face what I’ve encountered and their attorneys.

So, what can you do to protect yourself from being falsely accused, wrongly arrested and maliciously prosecuted? Hindsight is 20/20, but first and foremost you need vision and accountability. Know your significant other. Know that she is capable of calling 911 on you in a New York minute, or that when you get home she and the kids aren’t there because they’ve taken refuge at the local “battered” women’s shelter. Had you visited www.x10.com and installed audio/video mini-cams in your home to secretly tape the other party? If not, why not, because the use of the cams could be argued in court that they were installed as an added security measure.

Please don’t think that just because you’re going through a divorce, perhaps even a custody battle, and your accuser has ample motive, method and opportunity to get you, that you won’t be the target of false abuse accusations. Trust me, I know. These accusations come knocking at any time, for any reason, and they are not prejudiced. So, if you’re white, african-american, hispanic, asian, native american, female, or even a child, these accusations can be visited upon you and alter your life, quickly.

If you think you may be falsely accused of domestic violence document it via a timeline, including within the same your name, address, phone numbers, e-mail address and clean prior record, and provide a copy to your local police department. Then, if you are wrongly arrested later your criminal defense attorney may point out to the prosecutor the preventive medicine journal of events you left with the cops, and that may help prevent you from being formally charged.

My recent six month nightmare overcoming false allegations of domestic violence points out that nobody is exempt, that everyone is susceptible to a false abuse allegation. While we need to repeal in part the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) and Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), I’m trying to help win this war against false accusations one case at a time. Don’t be the next victim. You have been forewarned. Now, it’s up to you to be forearmed. And, yes, lightning does strike twice in the same place, or at least it did so where yours truly is concerned.

Finally, I want to apologize to my readers for being out of the columnist loop for some time now, but as you can see I was busy trying to prove a negative, again!