Attorney Anthony Comparetto recently did some research about the dirty tricks and downright sleazy tactics that angry spouses and ex-lovers will sometimes use on their former partners following a split. As an adult Webmaster, you are particularly vulnerable to a vindictive ex, especially if you have a child in your custody. Some planning now might protect your children from Government should your ex seek revenge by spreading lies about your business and private life.Attorney Anthony Comparetto recently did some research about the dirty tricks and downright sleazy tactics that angry spouses and ex-lovers will sometimes use on their former partners following a split. As an adult Webmaster, you are particularly vulnerable to a vindictive ex, especially if you have a child in your custody. Some planning now might protect your children from Government should your ex seek revenge by spreading lies about your business and private life.
Recently I was representing a mainstream entertainment law client. He asked me about putting together a video series on Dirty Divorce Secrets and tricks www.divorceproblems.com. I went around interviewing many divorce attorneys on some of the dirty tricks they had seen pulled on their clients. I have to admit, it was pretty interesting and sometimes downright funny hearing the dirty tricks that people will pull.
HITTING BELOW THE BELT
I asked one of the attorneys I interviewed to explain how these dirty divorce tricks could be pulled on a Webmaster or Web mistress. I gave him a hypothetical of an amateur Web mistress who was also a cam girl, and who had an ex-husband or ex-boyfriend out to get her. So here is a quick list of the dirty divorce tricks this ex-husband could pull:
He could place an anonymous call to the Division of Children services and tell them that his ex-wife was exposing his children to live sex shows;
He could call the local police departments and arrange to show them how his ex-wife was running illegal pornography and/or prostitution;
He could call postal inspectors and tell them how this Web mistress was distributing pornography over the Web;
He could call any of the above law enforcement or state agencies and state that he believe that his ex-wife may be transmitting or producing child pornography, and that his children were at risk.
He could tell local law enforcement that she was selling drugs and running an adult Web site!
Now this is a hypothetical, but let’s take a quick self-test to see if this could happen to you:
Do you produce any content? If so, do you edit that content on your home computer or anywhere in the house;
Do you run any type of live shows out of your house? Even if your children are not there when you are doing the show;
Do you have any of your Web content on your home computer;
Do you run any sites that use the words teen, young or phrases like such?
Do you have an ex-wife or ex-husband who knows you are in the business?
And this list could go on and on.
PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN FROM GOVERNMENT
See, Government agencies have no humor or latitude when children are involved. If you are a Webmaster now and have children, you have to take extra precautions to protect your family.
“There is always some documentary type television program explaining how some well meaning but misguided Social Service agency has come in and taken children from the parents with little or no justification.”
You may believe that you will never be arrested and convicted for obscenity, and you may well be correct. But all it takes is one pissed off ex-wife, ex-husband, ex-boyfriend, co-worker or neighbor to call a Social Service agency, and your children are at risk.
GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN OTHERWISE
Also, you are not innocent until proven guilty when a social agency comes in to “protect the children.” Often these social workers will make a snap decision on whether there is some danger to the children and remove them immediately. Then you will often have hell to pay in getting the children back. What is worse is that a family law judge can impose certain conditions on you getting your children back. One of these conditions could very well be that you have no contact with the adult business. When faced with losing your business or losing your children, \’\’% of people will close up the shop right then and there.
These Social Agency investigations often lead to a domino effect. If this well meaning and often self-righteous social worker thinks that some type of crime is being committed, he will often bring in law enforcement. Now you have opened up Pandora’s box, and you are getting attacked from all sides.
So my advice to the Webmaster and Web mistress is to sit down and plan your business to protect yourself from these and other risks. You really have too much to lose if you have a family and children to not plan ahead.
Anthony Comparetto has been an attorney practicing corporate, international corporate and entertainment law for over 12 years. Visit him at www.adultsitelaw.com, where he hosts a monthly live video chat, or to ask questions email him at ajc111@attorney.com, or call him at 727.328.7\’00.
