[Drew68]

I’m just biased against child abuse. I believe it is close to murder in many cases in its heinousness.

And that's what makes being wrongly accused of being a child abuser just as abhorrent.

[HiTech RedNeck]

True... the worse that Crime X is, the worse the unfair stigma of being wrongly smeared with Crime X.

People argue over McCarthy today (a thread about that is living yet on FR, I think) but his enterprise’s loose nature is kind of why his activity got the fatal slap from Eisenhower. Smelling rat isn’t the same thing as pinpointing rat, and if being rat is heinous enough, smearing with accusations of rat is heinous too.

[zeugma]

And that's what makes being wrongly accused of being a child abuser just as abhorrent.

Agreed. Because it's impossible to prove a negative. Once charged, it hangs with you forever.