Huge problem with weird neighbor
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| Fri, 04-30-2004 - 10:29pm |
Hubby and I have lived in the same house for almost 10 years. We have three boys, one 7 and twins who will be 4 in a couple weeks. For the most part, we like our neighborhood ok--we've been less than thrilled with the development ideas of some adjoining property but, other than that, it's been good. Except for "the neighbor". The house directly across the street from us was rented by the owner to a 45 year old man and his mother several years ago. It quickly became obvious that the man was a little old lady beating drunk with emotional problems to boot. This was ascertained first by him appearing in the street in his BVD's yelling at people who weren't there.
Then the REAL problems started. Every time we had to speak to him (from a safe distance) or worse yet call the sheriff's department about him, he retaliates by calling social services and making up reports about us. Not run of the mill things. No, he has to tell them that we're sexually abusing our kids on the front lawn, and that we're satanists, and that we've got a drug lab, and ..... You get the picture. Every time, social services, even though they know this guy is a psycho, has to initiate a preliminary investigation, and it takes about 30 days to get the charges cleared, and involves them pulling my 7 year old out of class to verify that he is STILL fine and dandy. This has been annoying to say the least.
In February of this year, it took a decidedly more serious turn, however. After a call to the sheriff's department (which actually came from another neighbor this time) about him being drunk and disorderly and yelling in his house, he decided to not only call social services but also another department of the sheriff's department and tell the authorities that we had MURDERED our children. He said he had seen us taking their bloody bodies out of our house, and seen their hands and hair sticking out of garbage bags. Now, imagine how you would feel if a SWAT team showed up on YOUR front porch. Obviously it didn't take long for the authorities to figure out that our two younger children were in fact watching cartoons while we got ready to go out to lunch. Our older son was pulled out of class AGAIN and terrified by the questions that were asked. The courts have been useless--they give me the story that even if he was prosecuted, his mental health will prevent him from being sentenced severely. Now I'm terrified to let my kids out in the yard because he comes out and STARES at us when we do. I feel like a prisoner in my own home.
So, that's my situation. Bizarre, I know, but it's frightening to me and my family. I don't know what steps to take next. A private attorney is going to be SO expensive, and I really feel like the criminal system should take care of this without us jumping up and down and going bankrupt. If anyone has any thoughts, or has had dealings with neighbors, or Social Services in this type of thing, I would love to hear what you think.
Scared, Scared Mommy

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My 2 cents,
Melissa
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