Man Sues North Miami Police Following Child Sex Abuse Allegations
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NORTH MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- A man claiming to suffer from post traumatic distress disorder after his arrest for child molestation has filed a lawsuit against the city's police department.
"I would never imagine that something like this could happen to me," said 23-year-old Clenol Jean.
A four-year-old girl that Jean's grandmother babysat said he touched her after finding a rash near her genitals.
Jean was placed in custody and sat for more than a week in jail last April. However, his attorney, Larry Handfield, said there was no medical proof, no thorough investigation and his client even passed a polygraph saying he didn't do it.
"His normal life was transformed into a living nightmare," said Handfield. "We felt the allegations were totally untrue because there was no outside evidence to support a four-year-old's statement."
The state attorney's office later dropped all charges against Jean, but by then, the damage to his character was done.
Jean lost his job as a teacher at a Plantation charter school, saying he has nightmares of the torment and humiliation he's endured and needs to see a therapist.
While Jean did eventually get his teaching job back, the stigma of being accused of molesting a child remains.
"The problem has been that you can not unring the bell," said Handfield. "His life has changed forever more. Students would run into class calling him a rapist and a child molester."
"It is an eye opener that this could happen to anyone," said Jean. "It was very stressful, very traumatic to be in an environment that I can't even fathom."