A telling quote about false allegations of domestic violence in divorce from the Toronto Star’s Domestic abuse law blasted (8/28/09):
[I]n a family law decision from Ontario Court Justice Bruce Pugsley, [he] said it’s “commonplace” for the criminal justice system to be manipulated by estranged spouses claiming abuse, “no matter how remote the assault may be in time or, indeed, how trivial the contact”… [L]awyers have praised Pugsley as being the first judge to so clearly tackle the thorny issue of how some warring couples use the criminal courts to get custody of their children and gain the upper hand in divorce cases.
The way such allegations are handled by police and Crown attorneys can have “the disruptive force of a hand grenade” for families, Pugsley said, setting in motion a chain of events that can wreak “havoc” on children.