Spotlight Articles Devastating Effects of False Allegations: A Survivor's Story
By Erik A. Cooper  An epidemic is spreading across our nation like wildfire. Not since the days of the Fells Acres Day Care and McMartin Preschool tragedies more than 20 years ago has this disease touched so many people and ruined so many lives. We've become a community of alarmists and sensationalists - the combination of which leads to the imprisonment of respectable child caregivers and the devastation of innocent families. False allegations of child sexual, physical and emotional abuse are on the rise in America. In our society of churn-and-burn media stories cultured by competitive commercialization, today, a teacher will be accused of propositioning a child for sex on the Internet, a youth sports coach will be reported for molesting young athletes, and a foster parent will be investigated for disciplining a foster child. We are vulnerable in every instance of contact we have with a child and as foster parents, our risk of facing false allegations increases dramatically while we parent someone else's children. Had anyone told me five years ago I would face a criminal trial and the fight of my life after serving as a foster parent for the Gwinnett County Department of Family and Children Services in Georgia, I wouldn't have believed them. I too watched the television specials begging individuals to become involved in a young person's life. "Be a mentor" the billboards read. "No child left behind" politicians said. "It Takes A Village" one book was titled. In the end, no advertisement, bureaucrat or paperback would warn foster parents of the devastating effects of false allegations. Like you, I answered the honorable call to duty - to serve as a foster parent for victimized children. I opened my heart and my home to care for children in need. I began an 18-month journey through Georgia's child welfare system, navigated by the lives of 42 exceptional young men. Each foster child was unique, presenting new parenting challenges and bringing me closer to my goal of making a difference in a young person's life. I touched 42 young lives. My service as a volunteer foster caregiver was fallible. I learned from my fair share of mistakes. Initially, I was a passive participant in the child welfare business, providing temporary care for youths placed in my charge while the agency deposited one child after another at my doorstep as overnight visitors. As time passed, my eyes opened to expose a world of corruption and mismanagement within my county child welfare agency. I joined my local adoptive and foster parent association and was soon nominated by my peers as its president. I hoped my participation would lend a voice to others similarly situated like me. Month after month, nothing changed. Unwillingly, I became an advocate for foster children and foster parents. Disappointed with the widespread failures occurring throughout my foster care community, I created an innovative organization - the Gwinnett Foster Care Alliance - focused on improving the quality of care for children in need through a true partnership between foster parents and the child welfare agency. While my success as an advocate improved over time, my relationship with the agency deteriorated. I was blacklisted from receiving any new foster child placements and targeted by the agency for retaliation in response to my efforts to motivate improvements for foster children. Without the assistance or consent of the child welfare agency, I filed a lawsuit unprecedented in Georgia history. My case involved the adoption of one of my foster children while circumventing bureaucratic red tape, political favors and paybacks for the county child welfare agency. If I succeeded, my case would have reformed Georgia case law and allowed other foster parents to adopt their foster children without obtaining the agency's consent. My civil action challenged the authority of the child welfare agency, but more importantly, risked millions of dollars the agency received in state and federal subsidies to care for foster children. The state could not afford to lose my case. A battle was mounted against me, ignoring the best interests of the child while focusing on preventing a single foster parent from changing Georgia adoption law, which would risk agency funding. My adoption case languished in the Gwinnett County judicial system for a year while my hopeful adoptive son was isolated from me by agency co-conspirators. No foster children were placed in my care. The agency I once so faithfully served created false allegations of child sexual abuse, accusing me of molesting my foster children in an effort to prevent the adoption of my foster son. Allegations surfaced only after I filed my adoption action. Complaints named six of the 42 children I served as a foster parent, including my hopeful adoptive son, as "victims" of child molestation. Appallingly, the allegations did not involve grave and unimaginable acts as one might assume, but rather innocent parenting acts, such as bathing or waking a child in the morning. Agency staff and law enforcement authorities conducted numerous interviews with the children, and experts determined they utilized improper interview techniques to extract false allegations of child sexual abuse. I was arrested and jailed for 45 days before granted bond and unconstitutionally ordered out of Georgia while pending trial. My arrest and mug shot ran in the newspapers and on the evening television news. The stories remain available on the Internet today. My criminal trial took place one year ago and lasted two-and-a-half weeks, longer than many trials for capital crimes. If convicted, I faced up to 180 years in prison, 20 for each of the nine counts. I was acquitted of all nine counts of child molestation and nine additional charges of sexual battery involving a child. Jurors later reported the children's stories were not believable and it was clear the boys were put up to saying things that never happened to them. Hearing their "not guilty" verdicts and conclusions undoubtedly relieved me, but the devastating damage had already set in long ago. I survived false allegations of child sexual abuse by becoming my own legal advocate. I searched and studied everything that was available about the subject. Books and studies by false allegation research pioneers, like Drs. Stephen Ceci and Maggie Bruck, introduced me to concepts of interviewer bias, leading questioning and authoritative influence, among others. I networked with foster parents accused of crimes involving their foster children and joined discussion Web groups like FosterParentAllegations@YahooGroups.com, where I received overwhelming support. I co-founded Georgia's Stolen Children, a grassroots child advocacy organization focused on exposing corruption in Georgia's child welfare system. To learn more, visit www.stealingbabies.com. Most of all, I relied on the endless support of my family and friends to help me cope with the emotional struggles I faced and continue to face every day. Living through this experience was pure hell. My unimaginable journey did not end when the jury returned its verdict. Generally speaking, my life has been ruined by false allegations of child sexual abuse. Employers deny opportunities for work upon learning of my criminal record. I will never have another opportunity to ever adopt or foster a child again. I will never coach a little league team, become a Boy Scout troop leader or mentor young people. False allegations have left an indelible scarlet letter engraving the words "Accused Child Molester" in my soul. A high rate of suicide is evident among those accused of such crimes. I intimately understand why. Worse than my own inconceivable losses, children identified as "victims" in my criminal case became victims of a politically corrupt system of child welfare. My best intentions were overwhelmed by others' evil purposes. In the end, the child and his siblings I sought to adopt became my accusers. The agency, who earlier claimed all four brothers must be adopted together, separated the boys into four individual homes. Most of my battles with the agency revolved around my insistence of keeping the sibling group intact, something the agency never achieved. The child I sought to adopt was ultimately adopted by another foster parent who competed against me for the child, only she had the agency's unilateral support. My adoption battle against the State of Georgia cost me more than $130,000, excluding costs for my criminal trial, and caused me to file for bankruptcy protection. I lost my house to pay attorneys' fees and costs. I lost everything, but most important, I forever lost the ability to adopt or foster a child again. Georgians are not alone. Our country is in desperate need of child welfare reform. Many children are being used as pawns by child welfare agencies to generate more funding through state and federal subsidies. Attaching labels to children like "special needs" impairs children's self-esteem while generating more funding for child welfare agencies nationwide. The cycle of abuse is perpetuated every day beyond the homes of biological families and into the ominous confines of juvenile courtrooms, guardian ad litem offices and child welfare agencies. As foster parents continue to stray beyond the blurred lines of advocacy for foster children and loyalty to child welfare agencies, false allegations against foster parents will continue to develop and destroy future foster families tomorrow. What Can You Do: 1. Write your state legislators. Demand foster care reform and legitimate protection measures for foster parents. Suggest criminal penalties be invoked against individuals who untimely report allegations of child abuse or neglect. Recommend criminal penalties be assessed against individuals who falsely report allegations of child abuse. 2. Get involved. Participate in your community foster and adoptive parent organization. Develop a partnership with your child welfare agency committed to address false allegations of child abuse or neglect, including protocols for handling allegations as they are presented to the agency for investigation. 3. If falsely accused, advocate for yourself. If you are accused of a crime, find competent legal counsel, but do not rely on your attorney to advocate for you. You must advocate for yourself. Learn everything you can about false allegations. Educate your attorney. Get involved with others falsely accused of child abuse or neglect. Develop a support network among trusted friends and family. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Erik A. Cooper is a former foster parent for the Gwinnett County Department of Family and Children Services in Georgia. His foster home was closed by the agency after he filed an unprecedented lawsuit against the State of Georgia to reform the adoption law for foster children. For more information, visit www.ErikCooper.com. | 
