Cleared Official Says Sex Case Tore Life Apart

State Justice Department official Brian Taugher, rid of a child molesting charge that he said tore his life apart, returned to work today warning of an increase in overzealous prosecutions that produce “horror stories.”

Taugher said during a news conference that law enforcement officials, mindful of the growing public outcry against sexual molestation of children, are sometimes pursuing investigations in ways that lead to false accusations.

“For so many years we didn’t find child abuse when it was there. Now we are in danger of finding it when it is not there,” said Taugher, a 38-year-old aide to state Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp.

Child Also Harmed

“An investigation which boxes a child into pursuing a false accusation does as much harm to the child as to the person falsely accused. The child in the case is as much a victim of the process as I and my daughters have been,” he said.

Taugher said that “from the day that charges against me were made public, I have been contacted by dozens of individuals with various horror stories about being falsely accused of child abuse.”

“I still believe that child abuse is one of the most heinous of all crimes. But we owe it to ourselves to have the benefit of a full investigation before we start throwing charges around,” he said.

“I don’t know why a decision (to file charges) was made so soon in my case--before a full statement was taken from the girl (who accused Taugher), before medical questions were answered, before the other people at the party were questioned, before anyone talked to me.”

Taugher said there is “no way to fully repair” damage done to his life, adding that his defense plunged him $27,000 in debt.

He said he could not rule out the possibility of a claim and lawsuit against the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department.

A Superior Court jury Tuesday found Taugher innocent of a charge of molesting a 9-year-old girl at a children’s slumber party. The jury of seven women and five men reached the decision after reenacting the alleged crime in the jury room during its sixth and last day of deliberations.(Verdict story, Page 3.)