False CPS Reports Become Tool to Harass Public Officials and Their Families

A false report to Child Protective Services targeting Pete Buttigieg's family forced his children through forensic interviews without parental presence and separated them for roughly 24 hours. Unlike swatting, fabricated CPS reports trigger mandatory investigations that investigators have limited power to stop, making them an effective harassment mechanism. Child-welfare confidentiality rules also limit targets' visibility into the process. Authorities confirmed the Buttigieg report was false.