I'm remarried and my husband and myself have recently been accused of abusing our 8 year old. It all started with a letter my son wrote saying that I shook him. An incident that went from an attention getter to that I was trying to do serious harm. She then informed me that when she went to the school to speak to my son that she would inform him of the seriousness of the situation so that he would answer honestly. She never told him.
All kids dislike being reprimanded.
And unfortunately my son was being difficult in school and as a result was grounded and had his Nintendo taken away. Which leads me to my next point. I made a comment that I didn't think my son would use that word. She then informed me that the person who made the complaint told the person that actually wrote down the complaint was responsible for the description. So, because someone chose to use a different verb, my husband and myself are guilty in their eyes because of a hearsay statement made by a complete stranger.