Monday, November 18, 2013

Girls lie about sexual abuse

The myth of women never lying about rape having been permanently exploded by the omnipresence of smartphone video, it appears the next myth to be demolished is the idea that girls never lie about being sexually abused:
Two years after San Jose schoolgirls branded a teacher as a "perv" and "creeper" who inappropriately touched kids and peeked into their restroom, a civil jury Friday found the children and their parents financially liable for defamation in a case that pitted the rights of the accused against the aim of reporting perceived abuse.

The jury awarded $362,653 in compensatory damages to former Catholic school physical education teacher John Fischler after finding the families spread false statements about him that damaged his reputation. The 49-year-old broke into a huge smile Friday when he heard the favorable verdict, which his lawyer characterized as "complete vindication."

"I'm grateful the jury was able to see through the smoke screen and the truth came out." Fischler said in a choked voice outside the courtroom. "There's always going to be a scar. But the jury saw through the deception."

The Santa Clara County Superior Court panel also found that one of the girls -- who was 11 years old at the time -- acted with malice and is liable for punitive damages. The jury will decide how much during the second phase of the trial, which begins Monday. Judge William J. Monahan admonished jurors not to discuss the trial until it's over.

The verdict shocked the families and their attorneys, who were confident that the jury would heed their warning that a decision against them for complaining that the teacher made their children uncomfortable would have a chilling effect on the reporting of school abuse.

"If this trial prevents one little girl or one mother or father from reporting suspected abuse," lawyer Lee J. Danforth said Friday, "then this is profoundly sad for our society."

But the jury believed the counter-argument by Fischler's lawyer, Robert Vantress, that the families did not merely discuss their concerns with school officials, they essentially gossiped about it.

The unusual case began in 2011 when administrators at Holy Spirit school in Almaden Valley were told that teacher John Fischler had inappropriately touched their 10- and 11-year-old girls and peeked in a girls' bathroom. School officials and police cleared Fischler of sexual misconduct.

But the teacher, claiming the ordeal had indelibly stained his reputation and ruined his teaching career, declined to return to what he called a poisonous atmosphere at work and filed a lawsuit seeking nearly $1 million in damages.

The lawsuit contended he was the victim of a "conspiracy" by "classic parent bullies" and their daughters, including a popular girl he described as having a "gang-leader-like personality," to get him fired from the private Catholic school where he was an at-will employee.

It took the jury of nine women and three men about four days to reach Friday's verdict.

To prove defamation, at least nine out of 12 jurors had to find by a "preponderance of the evidence" that a statement was false, injurious and not of legitimate interest to its recipients. And, in the toughest hurdle to overcome, the panel also had to decide the statement wasn't merely opinion.

Fischler claimed several other causes of action, including negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Jurors had to weigh the evidence against each of the seven defendants -- three girls and their four parents. They found the former teacher was only 10 percent responsible for the harm he endured.

They came down hardest on the "ringleader" student and the mother of the other two girls.
Sexual abuse is a problem. But as is often the case, the overreaction to it has created problems of its own, as children have become aware that they can create massive problems for adults by falsely accusing them. Perhaps the awareness that they run the risk of bankruptcy if they don't control their progeny will convince parents that their little angels may, in fact, be little devils in disguise.

One hopes these sorts of lawsuits will be continued. It would be extraordinarily amusing to listen to the screeching of shocked feminists when they start being forced to pay financial damages for harming the reputation of men by falsely labeling them as "creeps".

16 comments:

tz said...

Meanwhule, the earlier Attorney General of Kansas had his law license suspended by Sibelius packed supreme court for investigating Planned Parenthood's failure to report abuse - underaged girls coming for abortions. Life Dynamics did an investigation (prolifeamerica.com), and turned the evidence over to all 50mstates, KS was the only one to act, but then the $Nk/hr fancy lawyers invaded, docs were shredded, etc.

Abortion clinics are covering up real cases of sexual abuse and have less cleanliness and saftey than a butcher shop, and there's Kermit Gosnell and the AZ abortionist that literally raped his patients, yet abortion is so sacred to the feminists they won't even condemn such evils which hurt women.

Licorne Negro said...

"'If this trial prevents one little girl or one mother or father from reporting suspected abuse,' lawyer Lee J. Danforth said Friday, 'then this is profoundly sad for our society.'"

The girls lied, but the teacher must be punished so suspected abuse can be reported... This don't make sense!
One of the problems in living in a so thoroughly feminized society is that the law-enforcement system (from the cops to the politicians who make the laws, including the judges and bureaucrats in between) is skewed more and more to act as a punishment against whatever causes fear than against injustice itself.
They wanted to punish the innocent teacher because he is a man (and men, being bigger and stronger than women and children, cause fear), and because failing to punish him could (not would, could) cause some sort of vague chilling effect (even he being innocent).

Obs.: Sorry for errors. English isn't my mother tongue.

Anonymous said...

Hopefully, it can spread a bit further:
http://www.themediareport.com/

Eowyn said...

One of my band directors in high school was an asshole (teenage girl speak for "man who doesn't treat them like pretty, precious princesses"). Several girls I knew would discuss - seriously - leveling sexual abuse charges at him whenever he would embarrass them in front of the class for not practicing or remembering their parts. It was generally known that they would be taken seriously because he would let anyone come into his office to talk, stayed late to make sure all the band students were picked up after games, and had a sort of hand picked "club" of exceptional students that he would take to dinner or give special attention.

It eventually happened, the year after I graduated, and while he never had to go to court (no evidence), he was forced to resign and his previously sterling reputation was ruined. Because a couple of twats wanted to make him pay for embarrassing them.

Crowhill said...

Licorne Negro is on the right track.

It's very disturbing that the standard some people apply to cases like this is not "is the accused guilty," but "what message will the verdict send.

Anonymous said...

One of the first things one learns in sexual-abuse education for serious people (i.e. not just feminist pablum fed to college students) is that abuse victims DO NOT talk about it.

You look for other signs: flinching, overly sensitive fight or flight response, bedwetting, etc.

swiftfoxmark2 said...

It eventually happened, the year after I graduated, and while he never had to go to court (no evidence), he was forced to resign and his previously sterling reputation was ruined. Because a couple of twats wanted to make him pay for embarrassing them.

The solution it seems then is to not have co-ed classes. Or just ban girls from school.

Or homeschool. But that's raciss.

Brad Andrews said...

Watch for adopted children who make such claims as well. Even trusted people can turn on a previously perfect parent if a teen decides to make up lies. I know that from first hand experience.

Anonymous said...

The solution it seems then is to not have co-ed classes.

Its been my experience that if you have a group of kids any more than 1 female is detrimental to group harmony, unless that group consists of 2 females or entirely related individuals. Anything larger and all of a sudden short term power plays seem to take priority over long term group interests. And this kind of nonsense happens as young as 4, because I am constantly seeing it in my sons' lives at birthday parties, family gatherings, group play dates, pre-schools, etc.

Greg said...

Watched the classic South Park episode "The Wacky Molestation Adventure" last weekend.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wacky_Molestation_Adventure

Matamoros said...

Amy G: It eventually happened, the year after I graduated, and while he never had to go to court (no evidence), he was forced to resign and his previously sterling reputation was ruined.

In this day and age, if a guy is around girls or women and others are not there to give him the witness testimony he needs, he should by a small vidcam and video his area so these liars can be caught.

Anonymous said...

Brad Andrews,

An interesting tidbit I learned when I was a foster parent is that literally nobody in the system takes abuse allegations from foster kids seriously.

If a kid insists on making allegations, they'll move the kid to another home (usually after the social worker lets them know if they don't drop the act, they'll either end up in a very crummy home, or in an institution).

One Fat Oz Guy said...

The father of a friend of mine got accused by a couple of boys as well as a girl because he'd failed them on a subject.
After the whole thing was cleared he quit: "they just made it easier for the next accuser and harder for me to defend myself next time".
He'd been teaching for over 30 years with no other accusations, has three children and as many grand-children, but had to find another job to see out his last 10 years or so before he could retire.
Why do the papers only care about how the next potential accuser might feel and not how the actually falsely accused feel?!?

Brad Andrews said...

Aaron, we were adoptive parents of (as it turned out) a much more difficult sibling group than we realized when we started. I am grateful my daughter didn't fully realize all she could accomplish with false allegations or things would have gone even worse, and they were bad enough as it was.

A serious problem in our cases is that our children seemed so wonderful otherwise, so everyone figured it must be the parent/father. Most people took charges far too seriously, even as the children all self destructed. I had figured it would be worse as a foster parent, but the expected lying might be "good thing" ironically.

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