Many of you know that nine years ago, my ex-wife falsely accused me of making a girl watch X-rated movies and threatening to beat her up if she told anyone about it. So when I found out about a similar ordeal a Georgia man had to endure, I took it personally. John Blue spent seven months in jail on false charges that he assaulted a social worker--and even though he was acquitted in the time it takes to pour a cup of coffee, his life is still ruined.
Back in June, John Blue was pulling into his driveway with his sons, 10-year-old Zailan and 14-year-old Jaquez, when a woman pulled up out of nowhere. She pounded on his window and yelled, "You can’t go nowhere with these kids–I need to talk to them." Blue thought the woman was some kind of "junkie," so he drove off. The woman rammed into his van before he could get to safety.
Later on, after taking his sons to his grandparents' house in Greenville, South Carolina, Blue was stunned to hear that he was a wanted man. That woman who accosted him earlier was a social worker with the Gwinnett County Division of Family and Child Services who had arrived to take the kids into state custody due to an allegation of abuse. However, she never identified herself as a social worker.
After finding out that there was a Levi's Call (Georgia's version of an Amber Alert) for the boys, Blue turned himself in--and was promptly tossed in jail on charges of aggravated assault. It turned out the social worker had falsely claimed Blue had rammed into her when she tried to block him in. Blue's sons and girlfriend insisted that Blue was innocent--but to no avail.
Blue sat in jail without bond for seven months. When the case went to trial, however, a jury needed only 45 minutes to find him innocent of all charges. However, he lost his home, his interior design business, and most of his possessions. At last report, he was living out of his car.
In the time since WSB-TV and WGCL-TV covered this, there was virtually nothing to mention about this travesty until Raw Story mentioned it yesterday. I really hope this is because Blue and the state are in settlement talks. After all, the negligence is so obvious--and criminal--that the only question is how many zeroes will be in the final reward.
One condition ought to be non-negotiable. That woman should personally apologize to Blue--after she is fired. I find it hard to believe that this woman's behavior wouldn't be a firing offense. Blue only wants her charged for ramming his car. He's being extremely kind. Perjury? Child endangerment? False reporting?
At last report in January, this woman was still on the payroll at DFCS. If she's still drawing a paycheck now, someone has a lot of explaining to do.