Wednesday, January 24, 2001

It was with some degree of shock and disbelief that I read John Munford's article on the front page of your Friday, Jan. 19 edition. I am asking for your assistance in whatever way in clearing the record. As you know, I have previously written to you, as well as to your reporter, Monroe Roark, with regard to these false allegations which were made against me over two years ago. I am at a loss to understand why at this time Mr. Munford chose to reopen this story in a way that is so potentially damaging to me and my family. In particular, I am unclear as to why Mr. Munford chose to go to press with this without any sort of interview with myself.

While admittedly the legal issues raised in association with my ex-spouse's request for these records are academically interesting, I suspect that the reason why this article appears on the front page is because of the sensationalism associated with the issues of a physician having been charged with child molestation and his "wife" requesting records of the investigation. This type of pandering to the "Jerry Springer instinct" is something which I would hope that your editorial staff could resist, but the publication of this story suggests this is not true.

While I appreciate the paper reporting accurately that I was "cleared" of the charges, seeing my name mentioned again in association with the charge of child molestation on the front page of a local newspaper is nonetheless something which I perceive once again potentially damaging to my personal reputation. In fact, it is this type of potential for damage which motivates divorcing wives from [sic] using this type of false allegation as a threat or technique in attempting to influence divorce litigation.

In our case, thanks to my good fortune in having a tremendously supportive family, excellent legal counsel, and significant financial resources, I was able to weather the adverse effect of these false allegations on my professional practice, and to wade through all of the legal battles, and after a year and a half to win primary custody of both of my children, including the alleged victim of this crime.

Subsequently, Judge Caldwell stated in open court that the allegations brought against me were "frivolous."

I am sure that you and your staff are well aware of several other relatively high-profile cases of false allegation related to divorce litigation which have littered your front pages over the past several years. While this type of story may have a positive impact on your circulation and may prove to be stimulating to some of your readers, it may be important to consider the damage which it inflicts on innocent parties, including the children who are the subject of the custody dispute.

Once again, I have to sit down with my children to explain that mommy and daddy are fighting publicly, a circumstance that could have been avoided if Mr. Munford had been a bit more circumspect about going forward with this story.

I do not seek to hang my family's laundry in public view. I would seek your help and guidance in editing this letter for the purpose of the letters page to provide some balance to this story, and I would appreciate some restraint on behalf of your editorial staff in the publication of the fallout from nasty divorces. I anticipate further attempts to attract negative publicity. Such publicity can only be damaging to my children's best interest, and I am not certain how it serves the public in any way.

Kenneth J. Lazarus, M.D., Ph.D.

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