[quote name='Sk']
What I meant by the later part of you only having yourself to blame when you're allegedly called a pedo still holds true for the most part. 90% of people that are labeled as such have put themselves in a compromising position with children (i.e. being too close to them, working around them, or generally being foolish about those you socialize with). In these situations you really have only yourself to blame for any accusations true or false you may have against you.[/QUOTE]
I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one. I know firsthand that there are unscrupulous parents out there that will use the threat of reporting someone for child molestation to get what they want. It's a problem that is growing, unfortunately.
My ex used to be a 2nd grade teacher. 6 years ago a parent wanted special treatment for her daughter, and demanded various things of my ex that were not only unfair to other students but also against district policy. When she refused, the parent threatened to tell the principal that she had been molesting her daughter. My ex stood her ground and warned her boss that the parent was threatening to claim she molested her daughter.
Since she wasn't budging on treating the girl differently from the other students, the parent DID end up going to the principal, and made the same threat there. Basically the threat was 'Do you want your school, your district, and your teachers on the 10 o'clock news tonight or do you want to give me what I want?'.
The school gave the women what she wanted. The girl was moved to another class, the teacher there was instructed to give the girl easy work, never criticize her, and give her a nap time, even though nap times were not allowed in 2nd grade classes.
My ex was given 6 weeks sabbatical, and the during summer break was dismissed from the the school. Word had gotten around that she caused some kind of incident at the school and she was not able to get work at any other elementary school in town. She now does adult training for a corporate call center.
One THREAT of a false accusation ruined her career as a grade school teacher, something she wanted since she was in High School. She loves children and cared deeply about every kid in her class. It broke her heart to be forced out, and the only chance she has to pick up her career again is to move to another city.
Don't blame her for being put into a position like that by parent with no morals. It was not her fault "for getting into that position". She did nothing wrong and her life was ruined.
Think about where you work now. Would you like it if someone threatened to call you a rapist to get you to do what they want? Would that be in any way your fault for working there??
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