There are a number of serious problems that this post presents:
1) If the person under discussion was arrested for the charges cited that
would be part of public record, and you then would need to get advice from
legal as to how to proceed.
2) If, on the other hand, the person has not been arrested and is merely
accused then you have a more serious problem. To share information regarding
an investigation outside of the State Police by members of the department is
illegal and could possibly jeopardize the investigation (if there is one). I
would call the head of the State Police to inform him/her that information
about a possible investigation is being leaked to the public. Then, follow
the advice given by the head of the state police.
3) In the meanwhile, inform the parent that they have opened themselves to a
lawsuit for slander, and that if they continue to share this hearsay then
your organization may consider legal action against them for endangering
your programs and using your institution to possibly slander an individual.
4) If you fail to nip these folk in their talk you are opening your own
institution to charges of transmitting slander. The "accused" may have a
cause of action against the folks who started this and against you!
5) Get a good attorney immediately.
6) Do not discuss this matter with anyone until you talk to your attorney
and/or the head of the state police.
Best, --Nicholas

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf
Of Candace Perry
Sent: Friday, June 18, 2004 11:11 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Yet another strange situation

We have a kids' program on horses scheduled for next week which includes a
trip to a stable for a short riding lesson.  One parent who registered her
child found out, through a friend in the State Police, that the owner of the
stable has been accused, but not convicted of child molestation.  This
individual has been telling people not to sign up because of this (so says
the parent with the connection.
Our poor educator (who does not need to have to deal with this!) made calls
to the State Police but of course can't find out anything because the person
is not convicted.  The parent who brought this to her attention has been
vaguely threatening -- implying that we should cancel the camp or she'll
talk around the community. Frankly, her "friend" probably shouldn't be
talking and most likely has committed some sort of breach him/herself. I
guess there's all sorts of ethics involved here.
We may cancel the program anyway because we haven't had many
registrants...but there has been some last minute interest. We've discussed
possibly finding another stable on this short notice, but then we're falling
prey to hearsay.
I'm not sure how this will resolve itself...I thought it was an interesting
scenario in what happens when dealing with the community.
Candace Perry
Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Ctr.

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