STARING at the Facebook post, Mark Sullivan couldn’t believe what he was reading.
The post was accusing him, a dad and grandad, of being a paedophile and it was quickly gaining traction.
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Mark Sullivan experienced months of torment after his ex accused him of being a paedophile Credit: SWNS
Mark and Deborah Hayes spent more than seven years together as a happy couple but after they split Hayes launched a campaign of harassment on social media Credit: SWNS
But the malicious accusations weren’t from an anonymous troll but from the woman he had spent seven years with.
Mark, 64, and Deborah Hayes, 58, had been a happy couple until their split last year.
But after they parted ways, in early March 2025, Hayes launched a campaign of harassment on social media – including accusations of sending images child sexual abuse .
Although never named in the posts, Mark says it was obvious to all who his ex was talking about.
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Deborah accused a “local businessman” of sending child abuse images Credit: SWNS
Hayes plead guilty to one count of harassment without violence Credit: SWNS
His standing in the community suffered and people even made comments about recruiting a “hitman” to take him out.
Hayes was arrested in May 2025 and pleaded guilty to one count of harassment without violence at a hearing at Staines Magistrates’ Court in December 2025.
And Mark has now revealed how significant a mark the allegations left on him.
The chip shop owner, from north-east Hampshire, says he almost lost his livelihood and at one point thought about taking his own life.
He says: “I was contemplating doing something very silly. I’m being very serious – I was in a very dark place.”
Mark does not want to speak about why he and Hayes split but after they did she alluded to a person who had sent images of child abuse via Facebook and, without naming him, accused Mark of having an “STD” just weeks after their break-up.
Mark, who met Hayes in 2018 at a charity event, says the accusations, and the social media comments which followed, were “soul destroying”.
He contacted police after, he claims, Facebook refused to remove her posts – some of which contained private information and medical history concerning his children.
At the time, Mark claims the social media site said the posts did not contravene its ‘Community Standards’.
Mark says: “The comments on these posts were very, very hurtful and scarring.
“People that had been around my house, her friends, her acquaintances, were saying the most horrendous things about me – that I’m a disgusting human being, I should be reported to the police.
“Someone suggested she get a hitman to take me out. If you can think of any disgusting comment, it was there.
Domestic abuse – how to get help
DOMESTIC abuse can affect anyone – including men – and does not always involve physical violence.
Here are some signs that you could be in an abusive relationship:
Emotional abuse – Including being belittled, blamed for the abuse – gaslighting – being isolated from family and friends, having no control over your finances, what you where and who you speak to
Threats and intimidation – Some partners might threaten to kill or hurt you, destroy your belongings, stalk or harass you
Physical abuse – This can range from slapping or hitting to being shoved over, choked or bitten.
Sexual abuse – Being touched in a way you do not want to be touched, hurt during sex, pressured into sex or forced to have sex when you do not consent.
If any of the above apply to you or a friend, you can call these numbers:
Remember, you are not alone.
1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience domestic abuse over the course of their lifetime.
Every 30 seconds the police receive a call for help relating to domestic abuse.
“People were saying ‘I always thought he was a bit weird’. Just the most horrendous comments you had to read about yourself.”
Mark says things escalated after Ms Hayes began to message his friends and family, even criticising his own children for allowing him to spend time with his grandchildren.
The accusations have threatened his Big Fry Fish and Chips business with locals severing their ties with him.
Mark says: “It’s destroyed my business up to this point.
“I haven’t had any wages since September last year, trade is massively down.
“We’re living through a difficult period so it would have been down anyway, but I have more than one shop and I know what the trading patterns are, and this one has been massively affected.
“We used to give out hundreds of raffle prizes to local schools – we don’t get asked any more. That stopped completely.
“A lady messaged me today and said it went around the local community group.
“That’s all it took, for the accusations to reach a couple of people who have young kids and it spread around the school like wildfire.”
While the accusations were humiliating, Mark was faced with further embarrassment when he had to inform his own members of staff, on advice of the police, in the event that his shop was targeted.
He recalled being inundated with calls at from people asking if the accusations were true.
Mark still wonders why the woman he has “seven-and-a-half years of great memories” with decided to turn on him so viciously.
Following Hayes’ sentencing, he believes Facebook should do more to protect people from baseless accusations.
He explains: “Local community groups have taken over from newspapers.
“When someone says there’s a paedophile in the community, of course naturally it’s going to spread like wildfire.
“I understand that, but from an administration point of view, you should be looking at that and saying ‘we can’t allow that on our group’.
“If you can verify that story is true, then maybe you allow it – but you can’t allow an unverified story like that to go on your local group, because it’s destroyed me and my business.”
As a victim of harassment, Mark has also called for more support to be offered to male victims of domestic abuse.
He says: “A lot of the organisations I’ve rung up, and even ones I spoke to recently, don’t deal with this stuff.
“It wasn’t until a lady at Surrey Police domestic abuse team contacted me that things started turning around for me.
“She had read the case file and she knew what I was going through.
“She introduced me to a counsellor, and between the both of them they helped turn me around, because I was contemplating doing something very silly.
Hayes, from Mytchett, Surrey, pleaded guilty to harassment without violence at a hearing at Staines Magistrates’ Court in December 2025.
At a sentencing hearing on April 24, 2026, she was given a three-year restraining order, ordered to take part in a rehabilitation activity, and fined £1,000 plus costs of £85 and a £114 victim surcharge.
PC Aimee Worsfold, of Surrey Police, said: “Hayes repeatedly made unfounded and serious comments on her Facebook profile that had the potential to do significant damage to another person.
“This investigation serves as a warning in this age of living our lives online that we cannot simply make baseless, thoughtless and malicious accusations about others.
“The impact can be considerable.”
Meta was contacted for comment.
