Is there a law, or should there be a law, to jail a spouse for wrongfully accusing the other spouse of molesting their child?

Yes, there is. Where I live she can get up to 2 years in jail (on top of whatever punishment she’ll get for libel, usually a compensation fee).

It should be the law that anyone who falsely accuses anyone of child abuse out of maliciousness should be liable for criminal prosecution.

It is against the law to make a false police report about anything, including fake child abuse.

I’m sure the falsely accused could sue.

It’s quotidian behavior in divorces involving children. Attorneys routinely advise their female clients to make such accusations, because it slows everything down and introduces new levels of difficulty. Judges are wise to it, and don’t give these reports too much credit, but they don’t seem to be sanctioning the attorneys.

@zophu If I was a man accused of that I would mortgage my house to sue. Unfortunately, not all men have a house to mortgage. It so expensive they mostly just give up. And even then, it is a very hard thing to prove.

Malicious intent versus legitimate concern should be punished by the accuser paying for any jail time the accused incurred and a file of them with authorities.

@dpworkin Yes, I guess it is a sticky wicket. Sometimes it’s actually true though. This kind of thing puts the judge, and the spouse, in a very difficult position. I wish they would publicly prove one of these false reports and make a harsh punishment known naitonwide. I feel so sick about how it affect the spouse and child for the rest of their lives.

Someone who would wrongfully accuse someone of this almost as much of a scumbag as someone who would actually do that. Here (canada) I don’t know exactly what the law regarding that is, but I hope it’s a harsh punishment. (but realistically it probably it isn’t since here you can kill someone and be out on the street 7 years later)

False accusations of child abuse in divorce is also used by men against their wives.

Yes, but with less success, for reasons of stereotyped gender roles.

Yes, but very few men stoop that low, and it would be less believable. I think most men just find a way to hide the money and threaten the wife. lol

Most states have a “making a false report” law which involves jail time.

There are already laws against fraud, slander, libel, perjury, etc.

There are plenty of ways to make such an accusation and never be prosecuted, although when my ex tried it she and her attorney were reprimanded by the judge, but not before I paid thousands of dollars to fight the charges.

That is the problem here. They know it will cost the man and hope he will just give in and give her what she wants. Wow, makes me ashamed to be a woman. I have also been around plenty of them that brainwash the kids against their father. Most of them have all the time in the world to do it. Before you know it, the kids are hiding in the closet, when dad come to pick them up. Criminal, that is all I can say about these kinds of women. Its about money, power, revenge. Pathetic behavior

Yes they should serve more than 2 years in my opinion. That is such a low life thing to do, you could completely ruin years of that guys life you wrongfully accuse. Along with after their prison sentence their criminal sex offender status will make it almost impossible to get a job or house or do anything in life. So altogether their whole life could be ruined, all over a woman who doesn’t take others lives seriously and hates their ex, she should be punished.

I also feel the same way about women who have consensual sex, get caught by their boyfriend or for some reason accuse the man of raping her. That is also very sick and not addressed as much as it should be it seems.

I will raise my tea cup to that. here!here!

There are already criminal and tort laws regarding false criminal accusation.

unfortunately this is a hard one to prove and the women get away with too much. Even one false accusation is too many, especially if it results in ruining the life of one man and 1 or more children. There needs to be an enforcement that can be applied to these accusers and their lawyers.

As said before, there is malicious intent, filing a false police report, and even some civil penalties. The reality is it will stick before the truth gets a chance to get out of bed and put it’s shoes on. Why do women do it? They know in this society—the US, it is the nuclear option for a woman in custody battles. The media has pumped out this “stranger danger” making any childless man near a park as a Phillip Garrido type monster. The mere suggestion that a man touched a child sexually is enough to enrage people to beat him down, stab him with ice picks, pour battery acid in his wounds, before dragging him 5 miles in back of the truck on a gravel road and shooting what’s left of him in the face with a shotgun. Should she be discovered as of telling lies, most people would emphasize with her before the man she accused because the “molester stain” will be upon him and they can’t find themselves having any sympathy for that, even if shown to be untrue. His life is still basically screwed but she can bounce back in three years or so.