BOSTON, MA -- Louis Piccone wants to show lawyers they can make money by suing the Department of Children and Families.

In a sprawling federal lawsuit against seven DCF employees, Piccone is seeking revenge for what he calls a witch hunt that targeted him and his family, ruined his reputation, and ended only when the courts dismissed the charges against him.

"There are such fundamental flaws in the system, and it is such a shocking ordeal for a parent to go through," says the Dalton patent attorney. "I am still in shock that this whole thing occurred, and it has taken up literally two years of our lives. I want to turn that into something positive. I want to show attorneys that this happens every day and try to create some kind of counterbalance that will move the pendulum back to where it should be."

In January 2008, a caller to a DCF hotline reported that Piccone's 3-year-old son had told a day care worker that his father had sexually assaulted him. Within hours, two DCF social workers and a pair of Dalton police officers arrived at Piccone's home.

The DCF asked to interview the boy. Piccone said he would allow an interview only if the DCF videotaped it. A DCF worker allegedly said, "We don't do videotape."

Letters

Kudos to Judge James McElroy for making the right decision in a case of police and prosecutorial misconduct by dismissing all the charges against the Simonetta family (Eagle, Jan. 12).

As Judge McElroy stated, the failure to follow appropriate and legal discovery procedures by the police and prosecution was so "severely substandard" that he had no choice but to end this farce of a trial. I found it interesting that District Attorney David Capeless, if effect, dismissed McElroy's admonitions by avoiding any blame for his office's serious transgressions, instead attributing the situation to "logistical failures."

Judging by his comments, Mr. Capeless refuses to acknowledge responsibility for his office's ineptitude, or to recognize that the lives of innocent people were seriously jeopardized. The Simonetta family was victimized by state officials, who refused to show identification, and police, who barged into their home without a warrant to take away their grandchild, and assaulted three family members, according to a defense attorney. The police then imposed false criminal charges against family members that could have upended their lives, just for defending home and family. I find it difficult to swallow that Joseph Simonetta, at the age of 70, posed some kind of threat to an armed policemen to the point where he had to be charged with assault and battery of a police officer. According to Mr. Simonetta, the trial would have uncovered more lies.

I wish defense attorney John G. Swomley well in his pursuit of justice for the Simonetta family via civil suit against these authorities, whom he said should "have their noses rubbed in the mess they made, like a bad dog." Aptly said.

RICHARD TO DELMASTO

Pittsfield