When Winning Becomes More Important than Seeking the Truth Male Victims and Children Suffer

Part 1of 2

Up until the 1970’s we had few laws and no real system in place to protect victims of child abuse, domestic violence and/or marital rape. At that time this type of violence was treated more like a family matter to be dealt with within the confines of the family and not through the criminal justice system. Victims of family violence were not taken as seriously as they are today and there were few remedies for them.

Today, when an accusation of child abuse, domestic violence and/or marital rape is made by or on behalf of an alleged victim we have a myriad of laws and services in place. We expect the authorities to take each report of family violence seriously, to investigate it thoroughly and hold the guilty person accountable for their actions. We want the guilty punished and the victim protected from further harm.

However, rarely are things are as black and white as they may appear, especially when it comes to human relationships. At times, perpetrators of family crimes are able to fool authorities and others into believing that they are victims. These perpetrators pose as victims for several reasons; to seek retribution against an intimate partner for leaving them, to cover up the fact that they are the abusive partner/parent, to get custody of the children in a divorce, and/or to prevent the real victims from the getting assistance and support.

A perpetrator that is validated as a victim can wield a tremendous amount of power over their victim, especially if the perpetrator is a woman. Female perpetrator/victims have the ability access to free victim and legal services and all the support they need to continue the charade.

Law enforcement personnel, social service workers and others who assist alleged victims of family violence crimes may have, “perceptual accentuation.” Perceptual accentuation is a process that leads a person to see and perceive what they want and expect to see and perceive as reality, even if it isn't reality.

We like to believe that justice will always be served, the guilty will pay and the innocent will go free. However, that’s not always the case. At times, the police, DA’s and others involved in investigating and prosecuting crimes get it wrong. DNA testing has exonerated many a prisoner who was once investigated, prosecuted and found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Abusive people who pretend to be victims seem to have little fear of authority and no compunction about lying to get what they want. Sadly, these types of people can tie their victim’s stomach, life, and future up in knots and forever change the lives of other innocent victims who get caught up in their web of decent, namely the children.

Vladek Filler, formerly of Hancock County, Maine probably believed in the justice system at one time…that is before he became a victim of it. Vladek has learned much about the justice system over the last four years. Mostly importantly, he has learned that once the “wheels of justice” are set in motion the truth no longer matters.

In early 2007, after many years of marriage to a woman who was reportedly physically, emotionally and psychologically abusive Vladek decided it was time to end his marriage. He was deeply concerned for his children’s safety and welfare given that they had been the targets of her abuse also. He was, perhaps, naïve enough to think that he and his wife could divorce amicably and put the children’s needs first and foremost.

Vladek started making plans to move to Georgia where his mother and sister were also relocating. His soon to be ex had other plans for him. Shortly after he asked for a divorce his wife filed a police report claiming that Vladek had raped and assaulted her during their marriage. She also made claims that he molested and abused the children.

Vladek was arrested and jailed on charges of gross sexual assault and domestic assault against his wife. Evidently there was some question about his wife’s parenting abilities because after Vladek’s arrest the minor children were placed in the custody of child protective services, not the custody of their mother.

Could the children being place in foster care instead of their mother’s care have anything to do with this police audio (recorded the same month that the ex Mrs. Filler filed the police reports of rape and assault against her fleeing husband)? In this audio you can hear the ex Mrs. Filler screaming death threats and obscenities one minute and laughing hysterically the next as police officers attempt to subdue her as she is walking down the road barefoot, without a shirt, and carrying her toddler in her arms. Even the judge in their divorce trial found her actions on that evening appalling and terrifying to their toddler.

Part 2 Thursday...