Vindictive Neighbor Called The Police And Reported Us To CPS

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ourlittlefellas
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Vindictive Neighbor Called Police And Reported Us To CPS

Postby ourlittlefellas » Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:47 am

Thanks katgotsteve! I had no idea small calims would take a case like this? My husband has gone twice in the past before I knew him to small claims and won both times. But he was looking for compensation, one was a mechanic who charged him and did not fix the problem. But we were not looking to get any monatary compensation...just to take her to court and make sure she knows that her little attack failed and that if she trys it again we will sue her for whatever we can. Not that we don't need money...but it's more of a "hey, you need to back off and know that you are not in control of our lives, or anyone else in the neighborhoods live and that this was an invasionof our privacy and a direct attack against us and our children". Does that make sense?? That is why I thought the antiharrassment would be good, but the clerk at the court house said it has to be ongoing, like more then the three days she did the spying, ranting, threatening etc. What really makes me mad Katgotsteve is that not only does she report us for what she calims she saw which was us leave our kids..but she takes it one step farther and reports us for the booster seats which means she was sneaking around our car AND worse then that even is she reports us for having locks on the bedroom doors when she has NEVER been in our upstairs!!! AND CPS knows we don't but still keeps us on file for 6 years and says or does nothing to her!!! This is what is such an outrage!! I talked to a lawyer two weeks ago who thinks we should not take her to court but wants us to let him go over there and basically tell her and/or her husband that if she does this again we will take her to court cuz we do have a case against her. Plus now I have the other neighbors testimony. What do you think about that? Anyone have any ideas or thoughts on that?

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LindaJM
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Postby LindaJM » Mon Oct 20, 2008 12:43 pm

I say absolutely. That's so cool you can get an attorney to do that. I hope it scares her into rethinking her reporting habits. I know what you want most is safety for your family, so this would help, so she'll know she's treading on thin ice when she thinks about picking up that phone.
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Postby Marina » Mon Oct 20, 2008 3:38 pm

Does CPS know that the 10 yr old was babysitting?

Can you defend yourself by saying that the neighbor was also watching your kids, and if she denies it then it makes it look like her 10 yr old was unsupervised at the same time?

She needs to watch her own back because what goes around comes around.

MaggieC

Postby MaggieC » Mon Oct 20, 2008 5:20 pm

But you would have to prove damages. You would need to detail how her actions cost you money.

ourlittlefellas
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Vindictive Neighbor Called Police And Reported Us To CPS

Postby ourlittlefellas » Mon Oct 20, 2008 11:10 pm

Thanks Linda for that vote of confidence!!! That was the lawyers thought. I told him I wanted to press the anti harrassment charges...buthe advised against that. He also said it would be on her record..well so what??!?? What do I care if she has a record??!!?? I hope it will be on there forever!! Then maybe she won't do this again to us or anyone else. But actually the only reason I am not is cuz the clerk at the courthouse said it has to be onging. I don't know, I still might be able to pull it off. I sent the lawyer an email but have not heard back from him so I will call him tomorrow and see if he is still willing to do it. It will cost us $250.00 is what he quoted to come over, talk to us, get all the details on what happened then he goes over there. But honestly I don't think she or her husband for that matter will let him in. Then I am not sure what he does next but it better be something cuz I am not paying that kind of money for her to slam the door on his face and for him to go home and that is the end of that. No way. I have heard that allot of lawyers will just send a letter like a warning letter. But this guys likes to go and talk. I think he is more of an arbitrator but I don't know, I really just want to take her to court. I am not willing to try and settle any thing here since there is nothing to settle!!

Yes Marina, in answer to your question CPS knows the daughter is ten. At first when I told them I was like..ut oh, I am in trouble. Cuz I had been told you cannot have a child under the age of 12 babysit. And I told my husband that...though he was determined to do this and her Mother agreed so we both would be responsible. But the CPS case worker said actually there is no law preventing it. But they recommend you don't do it. So neither we nor her Mother broke any laws. But ya know I never thought about the fact that the Mother was actually responsible. I guess if anything had say happened to one of our children we could have gone after my neighbor (the Mother) for that. But since nothing happened to them it would be tough. I gotta tell you all I am so angry about all of this, probably because it has happened to us before..but even if this was the first time I think I would just as angry. I have to do something, I cannot let this just go like I had to let it go the last time. I mean she has implicated her self unlike the ex friend who was a coward and had someone else make the call and file the charges. With the neighbor too she stood out there screaming and threatening my husband and she has made it crystal clear she is trying to involve our neighbors which is defamation of character, but that one is hard to prove in court and usually I heard gets thrown out unless it ruins you financially somehow. What do you all think?? Problem is we don't have thousands to go to court unless there was a chance we could sue her for the mental and emotional damage plus the damage to our reputation. Then it would have to be pro bono for the lawyer.

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Postby anxiousmom » Tue Oct 21, 2008 8:44 pm

Wow....i don't mean anything negative to the OP, but I am surprised CPS didn't get involved with a *very* young child of TEN babysitting a 22 month old toddler & 2 autistic boys, just 1 & 2 years younger than the 10 yr. old.


I would never feel comfortable with a 10 yr. old babysitting a 22 month old.


If all the kids had belonged to the same family, I"m sure CPS would have gotten involved with a 10 yr. being in charge of those other 3 children.

Again, I am not judging you & I realize the 10 yr. old's mom was next door. I'm just surprised CPS didn't open a case on ya'll & the 10 yr. old's parents.

ourlittlefellas
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Vindictive Neigbor Called The Police And Reported Us To CPS

Postby ourlittlefellas » Tue Oct 21, 2008 10:24 pm

Thanks for the imput anxiousemom! Oh no I agree with you. When my husband first told me he had worked it out with the (now vindictive) neighbor I told him the child was only ten and she had to be 12 by law. But he said that as long as her Mother was next door it was all ok. I still felt wrong about it and BELIEVE me I didn't want to do this and told him but he insisted. Now I wish I had gone with my gut feeling. 7 years of a good neighbor relationship shot to hell over this. Anyhow, yeah you are right...and when the CPS person came out and got the whole story I realized then that oh no, I am in trouble for lettinga ten year old babysit. And I asked her if I was and she said no because actually it wasen't a law per say..but they don't recommend a child that young babysitting. But since the Mother was next door she didn't seem to worried about it. So yeah we both would have gotten in trouble.. .which honestly at this point would have been ok with me since I already was in trouble (well not really but that was the neighbors goal was to get us in trouble) so hey, might as well take her down with me. But no CPS didn't care about the age of the child as long as the Mother was there I guess. Hey, if there was someway I could get my neighbor in trouble for this I would. I am so angry that she did this to us and so far she is sitting over there scott free from anything happening to her with the law. I am still trying to get a lawyer to call me back on this! It is so frustrating!!!!

ourlittlefellas
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Vindictive Neigbor Called The Police And Reported Us To CPS

Postby ourlittlefellas » Tue Oct 21, 2008 10:25 pm

Thanks for the imput anxiousemom! Oh no I agree with you. When my husband first told me he had worked it out with the (now vindictive) neighbor I told him the child was only ten and she had to be 12 by law. But he said that as long as her Mother was next door it was all ok. I still felt wrong about it and BELIEVE me I didn't want to do this and told him but he insisted. Now I wish I had gone with my gut feeling. 7 years of a good neighbor relationship shot to hell over this. Anyhow, yeah you are right...and when the CPS person came out and got the whole story I realized then that oh no, I am in trouble for lettinga ten year old babysit. And I asked her if I was and she said no because actually it wasen't a law per say..but they don't recommend a child that young babysitting. But since the Mother was next door she didn't seem to worried about it. So yeah we both would have gotten in trouble.. .which honestly at this point would have been ok with me since I already was in trouble (well not really but that was the neighbors goal was to get us in trouble) so hey, might as well take her down with me. But no CPS didn't care about the age of the child as long as the Mother was there I guess. Hey, if there was someway I could get my neighbor in trouble for this I would. I am so angry that she did this to us and so far she is sitting over there scott free from anything happening to her with the law. I am still trying to get a lawyer to call me back on this! It is so frustrating!!!!

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Re: Vindictive Neighbor Called Police And Reported Us To CPS

Postby Momoffor » Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:08 am

ourlittlefellas wrote:Cuz I had been told you cannot have a child under the age of 12 babysit. But the CPS case worker said actually there is no law preventing it. But they recommend you don't do it. So neither we nor her Mother broke any laws. But ya know I never thought about the fact that the Mother was actually responsible.


Actually, I can sum all thta up for you. This was quoted to me by social services MONTHS before they opened a case on me for doing what I was told was up to me. "There is NO LAW that states at what age a child can be before they are left alone (or babysit) it is up to the parents dicretion to determine whether the child is metally capable of caring for themselves and others"

My 10 year old and my 9 year old were left home alone. I was found GUILTY of level 3 neglect (meaning I was an immediate danger to my children). I appealed it and fought it. It was determined that yes, my kids were old enough tobe left home alone SEPERATLY on a latchkey kid basis, They had to be 12 tobe left home alone for extended periods of time including after dark. BUT because there were 2 of them, one had to assume the role of babysitter and the recommended age for babysitting is 13 and neither were 13, therefore I still found guilty of supervision neglect.

I broke no laws either ....But with CPS you dont have to break laws for them to come around and find you guilty.

The reason I am telling you this story is because if you bring this up in court, you may be opening a new can of worms even though the mother said her 10 year old was ok with it she is techincally guilty of neglect in CPS eyes and so are you.

No matter what the CPS worker told you about the incident, I PROMISE you she made notes of it and its in your file that you allow 10 year olds to babysit your toddler children. (doesnt matter if it was your husband that okay'd it. YOU are guilty too if not more so because YOU are the mother).

Dont believe me? They decided my husband was guilty too for my discretion while he was in IRAQ! Got to love it! (But lucky him didnt have to go through any crappy classes, they turned it over to the military to handle thinking the miltiary was going to pull a 1 -2 on my husband and military family services found there was no issue, family not in need of services and closed the case with no recommendations)

BTW I also got reemed for leaving my front door unlocked when they were being babysat by the lady a few houses down and they would run over to the house to get something they needed. They were techinically 'unsupervised'.

Good luck with what you decide to do. Personally, I would just lay low and avoid her at all costs because people like that dont stop and they dont learn. Not even after Karma gets em they still dont learn. They let hatred and anger consume them and they act on those thoughts and feelings instead of being a rational human being.

Good luck!

ourlittlefellas
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Vindictive Neighbor Called The Police And Reported Us To CPS

Postby ourlittlefellas » Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:51 am

Thanks momoffer! Well, that is horrid what you had to go through. I am so sorry you had to endure that. Who called the authorities on you? Yes it is in my file since I had to tell the caseworker how old she cuz she asked me. But so what, everything is in my file. It's not liek the file is going away since it is not, it is open for six years which I think is totally unjust! But what can I do. And as far as laying low, nope not going to do that. I have already been through this hell once with the ex friend and there was nothing I could do since she was a coward about it. But this time is different. Plus this isn't just her reporting us to CPS, this is her threatening us, slandering us to our neighbors and now watching our every move. She needs to be stopped. Come on, if you were raped would you just let the rapist off because if you tried to prosecute him he might rape you again??!!?? Yes she is angry, but so am I!!! And I don't know, the laws may be different from state to state but if both of us had committed a crime by useing the 10 year old CPS would have had to go after her too for that and they did not. I wish they had though. I would be willilng to take that chance so long as she got punsihed too. And if the Mother is technically guilty in CPS's eyes then they would have opened a case on her and gone over there. It is hard to lay low since she is right and I mean RIGHT next door and she is watching our every move waiting to strike again when the iron is hot. I have to put a stop to her. Yes we are now planning on moving (only this time it is going be out of this hell hole state) but in the mean time I am not going to live my life under her thumb.

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Postby momomma » Wed Oct 22, 2008 6:46 pm

Letting a 10 year old babysit 1 child is dangerous, let alone 3, and 2 of them being autistic.

I hope you don't have anymore hassle from her, but I feel you are very lucky that nothing happened to your children under her (their) supervision.

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Postby Momoffor » Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:32 pm

You may think that it doesnt matter because you are in the registry anyhow, but you had an unfounded case. They can open your case back up again and mark you as founded of supervision neglect with the whole babysitter thing. Just be careful. Then you have the fun and joy of having an open ongoing case. WEEEEEEEEE!!!!

The person who reported me was the nut job across the street sho sounds very much like your nut job. Only this one was was actually a diagnosed nut job. She would do nothing but sit at her window and watch the nightbors houses and harass people. She was always going around demanding to know what was going on with people ect. She would tell people she was the neighborhood watch. The police had come and told her several times that a lone person cannot be the neighborhood watch and what she was doing was harrassment.

She claimed that she knew what was going on in peoples houses because God was telling her these things, because He had chosen her to be his personal crusader on earth.

She was a grown woman with 3 kids she didnt watch, pulled one out of school to homeschool because the school didnt know what they were doing. As soon as daddy went to work, the 7 year old got the boot (throughout the year, and in winter, he was always rollerbalding and in winter he would either have just a sweatshirt, or a windbreaker when there was snow) The toddler was always outside in the street and cars swerving to keep from hitting her. My kids rescuded that kid so many times it wasnt even funny. One day I came home to find her on the curb in a shirt and diaper and nothing else playing in a puddle in winter. Everytime you took the kid home, mama was on the phone or sleeping and didnt know the kid was gone.

She would write me poems with construction paper and crayons talking about how much they cared about us. Told me she loved my people. (Jews ....her word ..) but she would like me to go to her church so they can pray for me and my kids and we could be saved.

She found out I was moving out of the neighborhood, and all of a sudden I got the cops called on me for beating and starving my dog. NUMEROUS TIMES. Finally the cop who was just as tired of it as I was, did what I requested and went over to her house and told her to stop harrassing me. She turned to CPS next.

At first, she would go over to another neighbor who would occassionaly watch my kids, when my kids were there, nut job would tell them that I had left them and I wasnt coming back for them. They would freak out and run home. (I would leave the dodor unlocked in case they needed something) and then she would make comments to the babysitter that no one was watching my kids, someone should call the police.

She would sit on her front proch everyday when it was warmer and watch the kids come home from the bus stop. When my sons would let themselves into the house, she would yell across the street that it was illegal for them to have a house key.

When my car was in the shop, she would come over several times randomly and when the kids answered the door (I gave up answering the door a long time ago if the kids are home, its always for them) she would ask if they were home alone and when I came up behind them she would say she just wanted to make sure everything was ok.

When it was all said and done, neighbors asked her why she would do such a thing. She admitted that she did it because she liked having me for a neighbor and didnt want me to move and figured that CPS wouldnt allow me to move if there was a case against me. (She had previous dealings and cases with CPS herself right before we moved there for NOT WATCHING HER KIDS!)

She was also pissed off at me from before when she wanted me to call the police about a neighbor who had a tenant that was selling drugs from their house. It was a known crack house and I told her I wasnt getting involved. She also wanted me to turn the landlord lady in because she was getting her rent paid by welfare, yet there was renting out her rooms.

She also had some more anger because the last time my daughter found her kid in the street, I went to her and told her that just because my kids were outside didnt mean that she had a free babysitter and she needed to watch her kid. It also probably didnt help that her kid came to get my son one school day when the dad was at work and she booted him out. My son hadnt started school yet and was watching tv. My son didnt want to play because he was watching his show, so I told the kid that. He leaned in and saw the TV and told me "my mama said TV rots your brain'. I told him "No, tell your mama not going to school rots your brain'.

She also didnt like that I had no problem with my kids hanging around the women who lived a few houses down who just happened to be lesbians. My kids would play with their dog and I would chat with them whenever I saw them. To me people are people and I have no problem with anyone until you prove otherwise.

Eh. Karma is a bitch and shell get hers if she hasnt already. I was driving around about a year later and happened to pull up next to her at a red light. My kids were in the car and we looked over at her and started laughing. She saw us, and as soon as the light turned green she peeled out and took off like a bat out of hell and almost caused a wreck swerving all over the road. She was skert of me when she found out I knew it was her that called.

Neighbors told her I knew before I left and she made a huge drama scene then too. It was uncalled for because I had been telling her constantly to get away from me. She was still doing poems on construction paper and sticking them under the wipers on my car, I would rip them up and have the kids go put them between her door and screen door when she wasnt around. She would watch my house for me to leave and try to run out and kept saying 'I feel like we need to talk about this". This was CONSTANT, and I kept telling her I had nothing to say to her and get away from me.

She called the police and tried to get a restraining order on me because I scared her so much and she was afraid for her life. (Please I am not the one that is crazy, and I was the one telling her to back the hell up off me and stay away. My lawyer said I should have saved all those poems because it would prove she had been stalking me, which is legally what she was doing) I never threatened her, I never did squat except tell her to go away. She never got a restraining order by the way. pfftt. I found out about it through the grapvine because she was trying to get neighbors to be her 'witnesses' for it.

One of the neighbors who is Brazilian summed it up best. Only an evil vindicitive thinking person who is capable of those things, would assume that everyone else is capable of the same. (Nutjob was a diagnosed paranoid schizto btw who had not been taking meds because she was preggers)
Last edited by Momoffor on Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Vindictive Neighbor Called The Police And Reported Us To

Postby Momoffor » Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:41 pm

ourlittlefellas wrote: And I don't know, the laws may be different from state to state ....CPS would have had to go after her too for that and they did not. I wish they had though. I would be willilng to take that chance so long as she got punsihed too.


There are no LAWS for the age ANYWHERE. Doesnt matter what state. It was left up to each state to govern themselves. There are SUPPOSED to be GUIDLINES set up by each county but there isnt. At the time, there was only one county in the nation that had complied with all these mandated changes required by the feds. It just so happened that county was in VA the state I lived in. Fairfax county. I used fairfax county DSS own website information to fight the city Social services where I lived. They also used that same info against me (the 13 to babysit thing) to still find me 'founded'.

As for the other thing ..be careful for what you wish for. More than likely she would get her hand slapped for making a bad judgement, but it was your young children that were left with the 10 year old. It would come down hard on you.

And BTW, she could always flip it and say that her daughter went to your house and you were supposed to have been watching her daughter and left not just your kids, but hers too.

ourlittlefellas
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Vindictive Neighbor Called Police And Reported Us To CPS

Postby ourlittlefellas » Wed Oct 22, 2008 10:09 pm

Wow that is hell you went through with that neighbor!! I feel for you. I don't understand why you didn't take an antiharrassment order out against her from the get go. At least you had more grounds to do it then apparently I have.

Here is the thing. She can say whatever she wants. It is all on record what she did and her part in all of this as far as the babysitting thing went. She let her daughter sit over here crying and scared. Yes we let her babysit but the fact is that her Mother allowed the child to do it and her Mother is responsible for her, not us. If she is going to try to turn this around on us again by useing the fact that we allowed a 10 year old to babysit then I am sorry but she allowed her to do it and she will go down with us. And if it goes to court then we will have our lawyer force CPS to reveal who made the charges. And if her Mother tries to say we left four children alone then we can say that she left four children alone also. Sorry but she is in this as deep as we are. If she wasen't then believe me she would have already reported the fact that a ten year old was left to babysit. She didn't report any of that to CPS because she knows that she is involved. But CPS knows it now and she is on file for it. This is the second time that someone reported us for "leaving" our children home alone and for "locks" on their bedroom doors. If CPS was concerned they would have taken the children after this second set of charges. It is appalling that they dropped the charges knowing that they were bogus and did not go after either of these two women...but if this neighbor tries anything else and we will take her to court. I already talked to two lawyers who said we have a case against her for the other stuff, and if I wanted to I could tell the court that SHE was supposed to be in my house babysitting and left. I wouldn't do that but I could if I had to. In all cases if a babysitter is negligent it is not the parents who are charged it is the babysitter. And if the babysitter is under the legal age then it is her parents who are responsible for her, not the parents who hired her. You can take the case of the au pair in Boston. She was responsible when that 1 year old died (the charge was that she shook him, she denied it and said he stopped breathing on his own) she went to court and she was up for the prison sentence not the parents of the child. I mean comeon, do you honestly think that anyone in this country would let anyone babysit their children if they thought that the babysitters negligence would send them to prison??? But I appreciate your input and your story is very helpful in my attempts to stop these BS lies and attacks against us. It just confirms how easy it is for anyone to do this to anyone and your story is just one more classic example of how outrageous these attacks and lies are.

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Postby Momoffor » Thu Oct 23, 2008 2:53 am

The examples that you give have no relevance to your situation. The au Pair was NOT 10 years old and if she was it would have been the parents going to prison. YOUR family allowed a 10 year girl to babysit for YOUNG toddlers. Im sorry, but legally if something would have happened, they would have only gone after the mother for technically being 'left alone after dark' , but YOUR family would be held accountable for having such a young child babysit your kids, and it would be your fault the situation happened because of your choice to leave the children with someone who was incapable of caring for them.

Many people have tried to say that in a nice way, but you have been responded with more and more hatred how its the mothers fault your husband left your kids with a 10 year old that couldnt even change a poopie diaper. I am quite honestly VERY surprised that CPS didnt decide to go after you for that. Hell, I had a founded case over a 9 year old and a 10 year old being left alone for a few hours and you left your babies with a 10 year old child and they did nothing?? Something just not right.

As far as laywers who keep telling you that you have a case. Anyone has a case against anything for the right amount of money. ust look at the lawsuit against Mcdonalds and how it was mcdonalds fault all these people are obese. Or all the families that have tried to sue pharm. companies saying the shots made their kids autistic. Do you know how many of those case have gone to court? THOUSANDS you know how many were able to prove it and win? 2!!!!! But all their lawyers told them they had cases! $$$$$

The part about how you could lie in court but wouldnt, but you could if you had to. Thats just not kosher.

Dont let your anger and hatred for this woman consume you and thats exactly what its doing. Focus your enegy on your kids, go on with life, and dont be so focused on revenge and how she needs to go down with you. You didnt go down. So let sleeping dogs lie.

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Vindictive Neighbor Called The Police And Reported Us To CPS

Postby ourlittlefellas » Thu Oct 23, 2008 7:08 am

Well first of all I am not consumed by hatred. Yes we are angry and we want justice, but it is not hatred. They are two different things. Second we live next door to her so we have to be legally protected from her doing this in an ongoing manner. And third, sorry but you are wrong about the 10 year old. I have already looked into it and it is perfectly legal for her to babysit us at the age of 10. There is nothing the mother can do about the age of her child should this go to court...and ONCE AGAIN she is as on the line as we are where that is concerned. If it were agains the law CPS would have made that a case in itself. Thanks again for your advice but we will do what we have to do to protect ourselves from this neighbor and anyone else trying this again.

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katgotsteve
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Postby katgotsteve » Thu Oct 23, 2008 7:50 am

i dont know about which state your are in, but in Georgia 10 y/o are allowed to babysit. there are a few stipulation. cps doesnt get involved and if they do they often get to sign a paper here to say it wont happen again.

some colleges offer babysitting courses to 10 y/o and if they take this course there is no recourse for cps.

ourlittlefellas
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Vindictive Neighbor Called The Police And Reported Us To CPS

Postby ourlittlefellas » Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:20 am

Thanks katgotsteve! I live in Washington though I moved here from Atlanta 11 years ago. Belive me I wish I lived back thre now. I went into a link that Marina Moderator sent me and it says that a person who knowingly makes false charges can be fined up to 1000.00. But how do you prove that they knowingly made false charges? I mean if CPS comes out and sees that they are false or unsubstantiated and does nothing to the false charger how do you as the victim do anything about it? Anyone making those charges can lie and say they truly thought these things were legit. It just makes no sense to me.

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Postby Trisha G » Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:10 pm

You got lucky. They could have hung you out to dry for leaving your kids with a 10 year old. Honestly, I'm shocked that they didn't. As far as forcing CPS to reveal who called, sorry that'll never happen. They'll claim it was anonymous, if she was stupid enough to give her name in the first place.
Good luck suing her. I'd drop any thoughts of trying to get CPS involved with her though, it'll only come back to bite you. You would care about going down with her when you had to jump through all of their hoops just to maybe get your kids back.

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Postby LindaJM » Fri Oct 24, 2008 3:14 pm

I absolutely agree that CPS should never be called on another family in retaliation. Who does it hurt? Usually many more people are hurt besides just the intended target person.
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Please keep in mind that none of us are lawyers and we can't give legal advice. We are simply telling you what we would do in a similar situation. It is to your advantage to get a lawyer.

"Evil flourishes when good men do nothing." - Edmund Burke ... so try to do something to change the system ...

momomma
Posts: 54
Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2006 10:41 pm
Location: Missouri

Postby momomma » Fri Oct 24, 2008 5:53 pm

I agree that CPS will and should definitely question the judgement of the mom (you) who allowed the 10 yo to babysit 3 small children, two of which are autistic. I wouldn't push that avenue if I were in your shoes. I think you got lucky also. If you're good with CPS I would let it drop and try to stay away/ignore the neighbor. If she reports again, they'll realize what she is doing if there truly is nothing going on.

CPS has a legal responsibility to people who report suspected child abuse/neglect to protect their identity. You will not be able to force them into outing their source. They have to protect people who are genuinely concerned for the welfare of children. I know too often people do use CPS as a "get even" tool..and that's unfortunate, but there are reasons people need to feel safe in reporting abuse.

I forget the ages of your children but are there any restrictions on a 10 year old babysitting with regard to age of the children, how many, and mental ability? You mentioned two of yours are autistic and it seems there should be a law that at least limits the number of children a TEN YEAR OLD can watch.

MaggieC

Postby MaggieC » Fri Oct 24, 2008 6:20 pm

I respectfully suggest that the issue of whether or not a 10 year old is capable of babysitting is not the point.
The point may be that a disgruntled neighbor continually reports a fellow neighbor to CPS.
Now, can one sue same neighbor? Not likely unless the plaintiff can claim real damages.
However, can one prevent said neighbor from continually reporting to CPS? Possibly.
Build a paper trail. Continue to argue every allegation with CPS and keep track of this.
It may be complicated. Therefore, I suggest that the original poster send a private message to me and I will atempt to point her in a proper direction.
Again, I am not an attorney. I work in law and have been an advocate for parents' rights for over a decade. I can not offer
legal advice but I may be able to assist the original poster in seeking out same.

ourlittlefellas
Posts: 26
Joined: Fri Oct 10, 2008 2:05 pm

Vindictive Neighbor Called Police And Reported Us To CPS

Postby ourlittlefellas » Fri Oct 24, 2008 6:35 pm

Hold on Linda, I never said I was going to call CPS on my neighbor and report false charges against her. What I said was that I didn't understand why CPS didn't investigate her for making the false charges. And I don't have to force CPS to give any names cuz the neighbor already told US that she was calling and one of the CPS caseworkers let it slip to my husband that she did. I agree with you that it was negligent on our part to let the 10 year old babysit (but once again it is not against the law so it would NOT stand up in court and I have already talked to three lawyers who say we have a case against her for the false reporting, calling the police, threats, defamation and harrassment). But honestly you guys, you act like we are totally responsible for that and the Mother has nothing to do with it, no responsibility at all. This website is called FightCPS.Com...but what I am hearing back from these last three or four postings is to lay down and let CPS investigate us and let the neighbor do whatever she wants to us whenever she wants and never try and fight her and fight this??!!?? What just lay down and take it because she may get angrier and angrier??!!?? How on earth do you all think these things happen!!??! Because of people who are innocent and don't stand up and fight when they are falsly accused!!! For gods sake 80% of all cases reported to CPS are false!!! Why?? Because of people like my neighbor and ex friend who think it is within their rights to report lies to cps!!!!!! As far as taking my chances going to court and her bringing up that her daughter was only 10 years old...you all have to be pretty nieve to think that we would be the only ones held responsible. And frankly I will take my chance on that. If there is no law against a 10 year old babysitting (and CPS verified that to me and my husband and felt it was ok since the mother was next door and keeping an eye on her). It's like you guys are focused on that and not the fact that this Mother called CPS and the police and lied to them!!! And one of the bloggers sent me a link that said it is a 1000 fine if the courts determine that a false charge had been reported. How do you think that is proven in court if CPS is not forced to reveal that??? I didn't lose my children and I won't. I have done nothing and I mean NOTHING wrong here!! We have been victims of two maliciouse vindictive women who took their anger over a personal thing having nothing to do with our children, and turned it into a lie that could have cost us the loss of those children and now is costing us not only our right to live our lives in our own home as we so choose within the law, but has caused us fear, anxiety and stress. This may go to court and it may not, that frankly is up to her. But there are things we can do to stop her. If there were more wrongfully accused like us that stood up for what was right and fought against these perpertrators CPS would all but be out of business. I am dropping off this website. For those of you who supported me and were able to focus on the real crime here, ie: the false charges, harrassment, slander etc thank you so much, for those of you who cannot seem to get past the fact that a 10 Year old (who by the way will be 11 next month) not only LEGALLY babysat but also had her mother two feet away...you probably need to start your own websites. I am sure it would more then benefit those perpertrators you apparently are more concerned about.

momomma
Posts: 54
Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2006 10:41 pm
Location: Missouri

Postby momomma » Fri Oct 24, 2008 6:49 pm

ourlittlefellas...

You are absolutely right. I am sorry I got off on the issue of the 10 year old. That part of it just kind of blew my mind.

Since I can't offer any real help on dealing with the neighbor and her anger issues I will stop posting.

I wish you the best of luck and hope that your next neighbor isn't as crazy as your last two.

P.S. I would offer this...document everything little thing that happens between you and this neighbor and no matter what, when dealing with her (IF that happens) keep your cool.

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LindaJM
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Re: Vindictive Neighbor Called Police And Reported Us To CPS

Postby LindaJM » Fri Oct 24, 2008 9:56 pm

ourlittlefellas wrote:Hold on Linda, I never said I was going to call CPS on my neighbor and report false charges against her.

I didn't think you had done that. I was responding to what Trisha wrote, that was all.

I agree with you that it was negligent on our part to let the 10 year old babysit

I never mentioned that issue... that was someone else. I was waiting to hear whether you were going to have the attorney go to her door and talk to her.
Sample Document Library

Please keep in mind that none of us are lawyers and we can't give legal advice. We are simply telling you what we would do in a similar situation. It is to your advantage to get a lawyer.

"Evil flourishes when good men do nothing." - Edmund Burke ... so try to do something to change the system ...


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