Pete Buttigieg: A Terrible Thing Happened to My Family

[OldBaldy1701E]

18. Welcome to my world, Pete!

I went through the same thing while working at a private school. Some asshat who was being fired for not showing up to work for days on end, phoning in his directions and not being there to deal with any parents (despite being in charge of both the afterschool programs as well as the summer camps) decided to try and take me down as a way to distract from his own failures at the school. He made wild accusations and offered vague bits of 'proof' to the head of the school. None of it was anything other than made up crap. So, when he didn't get the reaction he wanted, he went to the Department of Child Services and the police. The police pretty much laughed in his face, as he had nothing other than his statements to offer them. But, DCS, on the other hand...

Let's just say that, after being put through a ridiculous situation that culminated with a meeting in where the investigating agent explained that their findings were that the guy made the entire thing up as a personal vendetta, said that there was nothing further to investigate. THEN, she informed me that they were going to keep the file in their records. I demanded an explanation as to why they would do this after what they had said and she mumbled something and ended the interview.

I am convinced that this has hung over my head in regard to trying to find similar work for the past 15+ years. I have always been on the lookout for actual evidence of it appearing during an attempt to seek employment so I can rain holy hell on DCS for slander, libel, and whatever else I can find to hit them up with, i.e.: 'Lawsuit from hell'. I have yet to discover that this bogus report was used at any time, so I have not had the chance to go on the offensive. Yet.

This is the reality of being accused of something that involves children even when there was nothing to the accusation other than some asshole who was desperate to try and save some kind of face with everyone. All it takes is someone to open their mouth. Nothing else is required to make your life pretty much end. Thanks to the insanity surrounding such accusations, no one can expect anything approaching a fair appraisal of the situation at all. Hell, the head of the school was seen as a hero for 'defending' me, and then a year or so later, I learned that he was just saving his school, not me. He would have gladly tossed me under the bus if he had been put in the position to do so. Over a lie. It just didn't play out that way.

I feel for you, Pete. It sucks to no end, and there is just nothing you can do to remove the stain from it. As I have explained to many others: the damage is done. It doesn't matter if you actually did it or not, the accusation is the damage and it is fatal.

Good luck, sir. The stigma of being 'guilty' of nothing has helped destroy my life. At least you are wealthy and have some connections.