Eric Nordmark planned to kill himself in jail if convicted -- with a razor blade he had smuggled into his cell. He spent 8 months in that cell awaiting trial on a charge that he molested three schoolgirls. The trial began. Two days into it, the girls admitted they made up the accusation to cover themselves and not get in trouble for being late coming home from school.

The girls didn't get off lightly.

The three little girls were arrested and led from their elementary school in handcuffs for making up the story.

Mr. Nordham is now living in Seattle where he obtained a job sorting clothes for Goodwill. What went wrong? How did the girls' story get so far?

Nordham's lawyer, David Swanson, believes the police made serious error by interviewing the girls in a group rather than individually, a circumstance that made it easy for them to tell the same story.

False accusations are a bigger problem than you think. There are a myriad of reasons why they occur. But this story is a powerful reminder that children can do bad things and all allegations of misconduct should be scrupulously scrutinized.