I failed, what do I do now?

[guerrier]

Well, my situation got real complicated, and I wish I found this site before I took, and failed the polygraph.

My girlfriend's child is now in state custody (Tennessee), due to head injuries. Both my girlfriend and I watched the boy run into a door frame, causing a head injury which later led to seizure-like activities.

As we walked into the hospital, we were profiled right away. Not married, just some 18 year old girl with a kid and some boyfriend she found. The questioning began, and immediately led to questioning of child abuse.

I submitted to a polygraph, and failed. The odd thing is, the questions I failed would mean that both my girlfriend and I simultaneously hit the child, causing the injuries.

Also to point out, I am type 1 diabetic. Throughout the questioning and polygraph, I requested someone get insulin for me. They never did. When I got home after the exam, my bg was 401.

Due to the failure, the court is now allowing my girlfriend visitation of her boy, but I am not even allowed to have third party contact with him. The social workers are placing demands on my girlfriend, such as establishing seperate residency from myself, in order to get her son back.

I was wondering if anyone knows where I should go from here. I can't afford an attorney, though my girlfriend had one appointed (a lousy one at that), one has not been provided for me, and I am tired of being harassed by the investigators. I want to go into elementary education, so you can imagine how having this on my record will affect my life.

Thanks to all in advance.

[George W. Maschke]

guerrier,

I am sorry to hear of your experience. I do think that you and your girlfriend both need competent legal advice (and I'm not qualified to give it). Have you contacted the American Civil Liberties Association of Tennessee (tel. 1-615-320-7142)? Your case seems to have civil liberties implications, and they may be able to help in some way.

Apart from legal options, have you considered going public? Your local newspaper and television news channel might be interested in your and your girlfriend's story. Your publicly confronting the allegations against you might help to dispel suspicion and make it harder for investigators and social workers to run roughshod over you.

[George W. Maschke]

Other potentially helpful resources include:

• Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services
  
• West Tennessee Legal Services
  
• Knoxville Legal Aid Society (Eastern Tennessee)
  

[George W. Maschke]

guerrier,

It seems that there are a good many websites dedicated to helping people who have been the victim of false allegations. A little searching on Google.com with keywords like "false allegations child abuse" turned up sites and pages like the following:

• falselyACCUSED
  
• False Allegations of Child Abuse
  
• False Allegations of Child Molestation and Abuse
  
• Abuse-Excuse.com
  

[guerrier]

Thank you so much George!!!

I am checking out these links, it looks like I can get legal help one way or another. Since tomorrow is Monday, I am going to start with a call to the Knoxville legal aide society.

There are so many illegalities in this case, all I need is a lawyer at this point. The list goes on, illegal search of my apartment, holding me against my will, sexual harassment against my girlfriend, not allowing my gf's attorney to be present during her polygraph although she already signed an agreement that the attorney is allowed, continuing questioning after we requested questioning to stop, and on and on.

Another thing to mention is that since he has been in state's custody, the boy has had three injuries, one requiring stitches and another requiring antibiotics from an infected injury. I love the boy, but the state has to accept the fact that he is a klutz.

Anyway, I thank you again. I hope that this polygraph stuff can someday be thrown out all together.

[DEPUTY BEAR]

Are you the natural father of this child? If so then you should have your own seperate attorney. However do not count on that attorney to win the case for you. Your first hearing should have been a 72 hour hearing to determine if there was probable cause to remove the child. The standard of proof is low at this hearing. The next step should be a 10 day hearing (that usually takes place well over 10 days later), where the standard of proof is higher. You should use all available resources to show you did not cause this injury. Show that the bruise on the Childs head is consistent with the object he/she hit. Take pictures of the object to corroborate this. The only real evidence they have is the word of the doctor who examined the child, and there is no way this testimony can prove you caused the accident. The closest thing is they can say your negligence allowed it to happen, and children have been known to bump their heads as long as there have been children so that is a week case as well. You may also want to point out that there have been no previous cases involving this child with Social Services or child protective services whichever you have in your state. Don't let yourself be the victim. On the other side, if you or the mother did cause this to happen, then the child is better off in another place until there is sufficient proof that the likelihood of this reoccuring is low.

Final note if you are not the father then you have no rights whatsoever. You would have to adopt the child, which means the natural father must give up his rights in a court.

If you would like, I could give you more information if you provide me with more. Send me a message through this site (you must register with the site first).
I was an investigator for Child Protective Services in my state (Georgia).