Ex-Wife Charged and Booked on False Allegation of Child Abuse

The sixth time was one time too many for law enforcement officials who arrested a man’s ex-wife who, they said, falsely accused him of child abuse.

Arrested and booked into the Hillsborough County Jail is Victoria Jene Wilcox of Seffner, who is charged with one count of the false reporting of child abuse, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

The charge is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine not to exceed $10,000.

According to the sheriff’s April 12 report, Wilcox over the past seven months filed to the Florida Abuse Hotline five abuse allegations “that her ex-husband Michael Wilcox and his current wife had abused two of the Wilcox’ minor children.”

The Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office’s Child Protective Investigations Division “conducted a thorough investigation and determined [those] reports were unfounded,” according to the sheriff’s report.

Subsequently, Victoria Wilcox, 29, of 2509 Mallard Creek Drive, had been warned about filing false child abuse allegations.

In February, she issued another unfounded allegation against her ex-husband, which in turn led to her arrest and incarceration, according to the April 12 report.

The Florida Abuse Hotline offers tips for the online reporting of child abuse.

The Florida Department of Children and Famlies, which oversees the hotline, also warns against false reporting. It notes that:

• Anyone reporting in good faith shall be immune from any civil or criminal liability.
• Any person who knowingly and willfully makes a false report or counsels another to make a false report is guilty of a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.
• In addition, a fine not to exceed $10,000 for each violation could be imposed.
• Each time that a false report is made constitutes a separate violation.

A false report is defined as “a report of child abuse, neglect or abandonment or adult abuse, neglect or exploitation that is made to the central abuse hotline” that proves false and is maliciously made:

• To harass, embarrass or harm another person;
• For personal financial gain for the reporting person;
• To acquire custody of a child or vulnerable adult; or
• For the personal benefit for the reporting person in any other private dispute involving a child or vulnerable adult.

The Florida Abuse Hotline can be reached at 1-800-962-2873.