[BrandiDup]

Well, I guess due to the nature of our board, it's natural for people to suffer from depression, to an extent. Since it's a Military Spouse support board, most of the ladies on the board are dealing with a lot- their husband is gone, they are single parenting, stressed out, etc. So, we have had a few suicide threats/notes and I've personally felt compelled to report those to local authorities because I felt they were serious.

In this case, I'm not really sure what to think. There have been a lot of other issues surrounding this whole situation, which indicate that she could very well be lying, but I still don't want to take chances since I do know that she is a minor. So, more than anything, in this case, I mostly want to make sure my butt is covered.

Since we do encounter this type of thing every so often though, I was just mainly wanting to get a definite answer to what my legal liability is for reporting things in cases of alleged abuse or suicide. If I felt personally compelled to report it, I definitely would, if I felt it was sincere. But in some cases, I have good reason to believe it's a troll or someone just wanting to get attention. I just want to be sure of what my duties are, so I don't do the wrong thing.

Thank you so much for your input and advice. I always struggle to do the right thing but it seems that some people take advantage of people on the internet just because they are faceless and don't have to own up to their lies. It makes my job a lot harder and more complicated.