falsely accused

[donnadec]

hi there im new to the forum, my name is donna & im seeking advice for my brother who is being falsely accused of sexual abuse against 2 of our neices. the allaegations were made 5 weeks ago to the police they have not as yet spoken to my brother, i dont know if this is normal! We do know that the girls in question have ask another neice to lie against my brother, he has been to a solicitor & his doctor as he is in bits, one of the girls has also gave me verbal abuse over the phone because im giving my brother all my support as is all of his entire family, he is a married man of 36yrs with 2 sons can anyone give me some advice as in what to do

[Saffron]

Keep holding on

Hi Donna

welcome to the forum.

First of all, it seems very strange that the police have not yet contacted your brother. Normally they are very quick to pounce on allegations of sexual assault, particularly against minors. maybe they are waiting for corroborating evidence, although that again seems strange. I think that most people are arrested as soon as the initial complaint has been made. I don't want to get your hopes up, but maybe the police don't think the girls' story is credible?

Are you sure that the girls have gone to the police? As our Boys in Blue haven't yet contacted your brother, how does he know about the allegations? He has done absolutely the right thing by getting a solicitor, and going to his doctor. I would advise you to make sure the solicitor specialises in defending cases of this nature...this is absolutely crucial, as it is an area of the legal system that has its own caveats and conditions.

The solicitor is not correct in saying there is little you can do until the police contact your brother. He needs to prepare himself for a fight. If he knows any details about the alleged incidents, make sure he writes down every tiny detail about those dates. He should keep a record of phone calls, and maybe even record them. If he doesn't know any specific details about what on earth he is supposed to have done, then he should try to recall every time he has been alone with the girls, what they were doing (going to the park, cinema, etc) how they were behaving, and who they were with.

You should contact FASO (False Allegations Support Organisation) www.false-allegations.org.uk and they will be able to provide him with some really good advice and a list of specialist solicitors in your location.

Finally, make sure you look after yourself. Being the support to a falsely accused person is physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting. It is really sad to welcome another member of the forum under such terrible circumstances. My thoughts are with you. Let us know how you get on.

warm wishes,

Saffron

[donnadec]

false allegations

Thanks Saffron for your reply, we know that our neices have made these allegations because the social services contacted my brother & his wife, they have advised him not to stay in his own home with his children because of the nature of the allegations, also we have family members telling us what is going on to a point. my brother also has a daughter from a previous relationship his daughter would have been close to the other girls, they have ask my brothers daughter to lie for them, she has made a statment to my brothers solicitor stating what it was that they wanted her to say. they have also gave me & my mother verbal abuse on the phone because we are supporting my brother. im hoping that because the police have not been in touch as yet that this is a good sign, i would be very grateful for any advice

[katie]

Relative

Hi Donna
I am well aware of how nasty family can be, it is so easy nowadays to make allegations against a family member and it appears to be more common than any of us realise. There can be many reasons for this, you couldnt even attempt to understand them. Your family is in for a rocky ride either way. As for the Social Work they will make their own investigation and if they think the accusers stories have any merit at all(which they probably will) they will deem your brothers own kids as at risk irregardless of his innocence. As long as this goes on unresolved they will be deemed as at risk and probably placed on register as such. You also have to be carefull of anything you say to them as they pass everything on to police as well as part of child protection procedure. I truly hope this turns out to be nothing and blows over. But your family must prepare yourself. In my sons case I quickly learned the only person I could trust was the lawyer and we put our faith in them and gladly it worked. I wish your family good luck. Try to stay strong there are many people out there going through the same thing. You are not alone

[donnadec]

false allegations

Hi katie,
thank you for your support it mean a lot, as im sure you are aware its a terrible thing to happen to anyone, my brother is in an awful state & i feel worthless because i cant make it all go away for him, although he has plenty of family & friends to support him everyone who knows him is standing by him, people who also know the girls concerned believe they are making false allegations going on the type of people that they present themselves as,hopefully the police will see through their lies also, thanks again for the support

[Rights Fighter]

Hi Donna

Police do sometimes take their time to get around to interviewing a "suspect". I've known them to take months.

Whereabouts in the UK are you? I might know of an experienced solicitor who can help you. There really isn't much a solicitor can do until the interview/charge because they can't do anything without knowing what they are up against. What you need to do in the meantime is gather all you know about the accusers (as to who they have accused before, financial problems etc) so you can start to build a case.

If one specifies that something happened on a certain day I would advise against telling police of any alibi as they will only move the goal posts to encompass that date. By the time it gets to they jury it's too late so you need to save info like that for trial, if it gets that far.

If anything out of the ordinary (such as accusers ringing you and other supporters, threatening or or silent calls, whatever) start a diary.

You can also get further advice on the forum and chat room at www.pafaa.org.uk

[donnadec]

false allegations

Hi there,
Thanks for the advice we are living in NIreland, i would be grateful for any advice out there. Donna

[donnadec]

false allegations

hi there just to let you know the police still have not got in touch with my brother this is now 9 weeks since the allegations were made,do you know what the police would be doing in all this time, thanks again for any advice

[gerals]

Police Delays

I'm in Northern Ireland too. On the subject of the police, I think things may be different here than on the mainland. It took the police 8 months to contact my husband after the initial complaint about him had been made. Then from that first contact we heard nothing else from them for a further 7 months. It then took 13 months to actually come to trial. Things definitely seem to go much slower over here. My advice to you echoes what others here have said - get a good solicitor! Make sure they have expertise and experience in this field and make sure you get a good barrister too. Good luck and stay strong.

[donnadec]

false allegations

Thanks for advice, not being nosey but was the complaint of the same nature? did your husband know from the beginning that the complaint had been made? have you any idea why it takes so long? sorry for all the questions but we are going out of our minds as im sure you know, i hope the outcome for you was a good one, many thanks again

[gerals]

Delays

Yes, he was accused by the daughter of his ex. He had no idea that any complaint had been made against him until the police tunred up on our doorstep 8 months after the original complaint had been made. I have no idea why it seems to take so long for everything in NI, and neither the police nor our solicitor could offer any explanation either. There doesn't seem to be anything you can do to hurry them up either - they work at their own pace! Unfortunately, it wasn't a good outcome for us, despite a total lack of evidence of any kind. I hate to say it, particularly as a woman, but I'm afraid once a bloke has been accused, it seems he stands little chance. Still, we are currently awaiting the outcome of an appeal and are hopeful that we can turn things around

[donnadec]

false allegations

hi there just got word today that the police want to interview my brother on monday or tuesday i suppose this is the ball starting to roll, sorry to hear that the outcome wasnt good for you hope the appeal turns it, thanks again for replying to me

[gerals]

Good Luck

Good luck to your brother for next week. Hopefully, things will go well. Please tell him to make sure he has a good solicitor - it really is vital in these cases from the outset, as we learnt to our cost.

[donnadec]

false allegations

Hi there thanks for your support we were at the solicitor today cant say any on here but its not looking good there seems to be one main question & i think its only the other ones can answer i didnt like the advice he gave to my brother, is there anyone you can recomend thanks again

[Saffron]

FASO could help

Hi Donnadec

contact FASO - False Allegation Support Organisation - they will be able to recommend a specialist solicitor who can help. www.false-allegations.org.uk or Rights Fighter at www.pafaa.org.uk and she will be able to help as well. I cannot stress how important this is. Gerals says that she learnt this at her cost, and we did too. Our solicitor and barrister were both hopeless....it cost us dear. i would willingly have remortgaged our house if it meant clearing his name.

Good luck, my thoughts are with you.

Saffron