Visitor Question

Defamation and Emotional Distress…

Submitted By: Angel (Saint Robert, MO)

A 16yr old girl insulted my son and daughter, spreading untrue rumors about them and now has our neighbors turning their backs on us. This girl said my son plays with himself while others are in the room and she has told this to her mom, sibling, the people she lives with, the next door neighbors and anyone she comes in contact with.

This same girl also spread rumors at the high school that my oldest daughter has multiple STD’s. And now boys won’t go out with her because it’s all over school.

This girl is ruining my children’s lives and now her mother and her mother’s friend are joining in to pick on them, telling other adults. The girl’s mother has a friend who constantly, whenever around verbally abuses my children. Is there any way to stop this?

Disclaimer: Our response is not formal legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is generic legal information based on the very limited information provided. Do not rely upon the information in our response, or anywhere else on this site, when deciding the proper course of a legal matter. Always get a personalized case review from a local attorney.

Answer

Dear Angel,

Yes! When it comes to defamation, including slander and libel the courts are quite specific. Slander occurs when someone says something to defame another. Libel occurs when someone writes something to defame another. It is clear your children were slandered, and if there was any texting, they were libeled as well.

If the taunts of the other children were just mean spirited and hurtful, you and your children would probably not have a a very good chance of suing them. (Here we are dealing with First Amendments Rights of Freedom of Speech). But the courts have held when the slander and libel allege acts involving the moral turpitude of an individual, the First Amendment Rights become qualified.

In other words if the other children said or wrote mean things about your children their speech and texting would be protected by the US Constitution. But when their speech and texting go “over the line” and allege your children have contracted sexually transmitted diseases, or are sexually perverted, then the other childrens’ speech is not protected and they should be liable for their actions – for defamation of character through the use of slanderous and libelous remarks.

If the school was aware of the spreading of these slanderous and libelous remarks and did nothing to stop them, the school district may be liable as well. Cases like these often include jury verdicts which can include actual damages and substantial additional compensation for Pain and Suffering and Mental Anguish.

What happened to your children is regrettable.

Learn more here: Liability for Defamation of Character

The above is general information. Laws change frequently, and across jurisdictions. You should get a personalized case evaluation from a licensed attorney.

Find a local attorney to give you a free case review here, or call 888-972-0892.

We wish you the best with your claim,

Published:

One comment on “Defamation and Emotional Distress…

  1. Felicia says:

    So the father of my child, his girlfriend and my ex best friend are not only claiming that my child is not his but he’s telling his mother and my friends that I have slept with over 30 men, that my identity is not real that I’m older than I actually am my drivers license is fake also that I tried to get with a 15 year old, also that I had a daughter and gave her up and just bad mouthing me to where I have friends calling me saying that my child’s father is saying absurd things about me. He has also been saying the same things to his mother that I live with and she has repeated them to me just as my friend said. They are trying to ruin my reputation and my life by spreading rumors to anyone that knows me. A DNA test is being shipped so that his mother can take the test for him since he refuses to. He claims it is not his child all because my ex best friend says there was multiple guys at the time because she’s being petty. But if he really didn’t believe this child was his why would he be upset about not seeing him for the holidays and why would he have bought him a Christmas present. He’s just literally trying to make my life hell to the point where I’ve gone to the doctor and they gave me this plain scale test and I scored a 28 out of 30 and they wanted to send me to Saluscare right away I already had postpartum depression but he’s making it worse to where I feel like I don’t want to be here. What do I do ?

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