No charges for woman who falsely accused Buttigieg of threatening his children

An Indiana prosecutor will not pursue criminal charges against the woman whose false child welfare tip led authorities to bar former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg from being alone with his 4-year-old twins for about 24 hours in June, citing her documented history of alcoholism and mental illness.

Marshall County Prosecuting Attorney E. Nelson Chipman Jr. reviewed an Indiana State Police investigation into the anonymous complaint and concluded he could not establish that the woman, a 50-year-old Alabama resident identified in his correspondence only by the initials “TJ,” had the capacity to form the criminal intent required for a conviction, according to an email Mr. Chipman sent to state police investigators.

Mr. Chipman wrote that the woman has a long-documented history of alcohol abuse and mental illness, including hallucinations and delusional thinking, and that she has claimed to be God and to have dined with former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. He noted she was arrested for domestic battery during her stay in Indiana, with a blood alcohol content reported at 0.323, and cited a separate police report in which she alleged she had been sexually abused by her mother at age 3, nearly five decades earlier; Mr. Chipman wrote that her explanation for the lengthy delay in reporting it was “incoherent.”

“The evidence establishes TJ gave a false report resulting in Michigan law enforcement initiating a brief but intrusive investigation of an innocent individual and his family,” Mr. Chipman wrote, adding that he was “unable to conclude” she could form the intent necessary to support a criminal case.

Investigators traced the anonymous tip to Marshall County, Indiana, where the woman was temporarily staying with relatives. A Michigan State Police trooper and a child welfare worker went to Mr. Buttigieg’s home in Traverse City, and he was barred from being alone with his twins until forensic interviews with the children could be completed.

Mr. Buttigieg publicly detailed the episode at the time, describing an anonymous caller who claimed a woman had told him at an Alabama conference that Mr. Buttigieg had “committed unspeakable violent crimes.” Mr. Buttigieg wrote that he has never been to the town where the woman said they met, and that the ordeal was “the ugliest thing that has happened to me since my career in service began.”

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office opened its own investigation into how the false report was handled, with a spokesperson saying authorities should have recognized the tip’s lack of credibility before separating Mr. Buttigieg from his children. The Washington Post has reported that investigation remains active.

The woman has since returned to Alabama, where she is living in a halfway house after leaving a treatment facility, according to Mr. Chipman’s email.