My nephew was recently out hiking and was returning to his vehicle. As he approached his car, he said there was an older man in another car parked behind his. This older man asked my nephew what he was doing. My nephew replied, "Hiking." The man then told my nephew that the land off of the road was private property. My nephew was unaware of that and said there were no signs or fencing indicating it was private property. The man said that he had already called the sheriffs and had already taken a picture of my nephew's license plate. He also took a picture of my nephew, too. My nephew continued to talk to this man for another couple minutes about hiking gear, etc. Once the older guy realized that my nephew was not a bad egg, he told him he was free to go and was canceling the call to the sheriff. My nephew left.

It turns out that five days later my nephew discovered a post on Facebook from someone who had knowledge of the alleged trespassing encounter with the older man the previous week! This person accused my nephew of several counts of vandalism on the older guy's property! They appear to know each ither, I think. Needless to say, my nephew was very upset that this misinformation was being broadcasted onto Facebook. His parents have already contacted a lawyer who is writing a cease-and-desist letter demanding that the Facebook accusation written by this third, unknown party be removed immediately. My question is how can my nephew be accused of vandalism by this third party when there is no proof or no eyewitnesses to these accusations of vandalism? Keep in mind that this older gentleman said he was canceling the call to the sheriffs and that my nephew was free to go, so to speak. If crimes of vandalism were committed, why was he let go? Regardless, my nephew is still worried that he might get arrested any day now for the vandalism even though he is not guilty of that at all. If there was hard evidence that he did, indeed, vandalize something, it would be a different story. The parents' attorney has said pretty much the same thing. My nephew insists that he did not vandalize anything while hiking, and I believe him. I just wanted to get some other perspectives and opinions on this unusual predicament. Feel free to comment! Thanks!

This is why I don't hike.

I'd be proactive and go to the sheriff, preferably with the lawyer, and get the facts. This way he won't have to worry.

The third party sounds like someone you just have to wait out. Facebook posts about a minor, unproven, crime will get lost in the ocean of posts and be forgotten.

Good luck.

The standard for an arrest would be probable cause, which it sounds like is lacking. Personally, I'd get a civil lawyer, not a criminal one, and discuss a defamation suit against the Facebook poster.

The whole story sounds a bit bizarre.

Bear in mind that whenever lawyers get involved, it all depends on how much justice you can afford ...

The lawyers I know do a lot more pro bono work than the professional musicians I know...

Good perspective. And true.

LOL, you guys. But I stand by my statement.

I'm sure you do...so do I. My wedding music depended on how much music in could afford, too. That's why Bocelli did the Kardashian wedding and not mine.

Personally I wouldn't want to hear Bocelli at my wedding. Can't stand to listen to him!

I'm with you there, but my mom would have loved it!

Oh well, at least she got Johnny Ace Palmer.

Well said.