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Their names, or parts of their names depending on how young are their kids and how delicate the reporter, pop up in the mainstream press now and then.

I wrote about one such man last month, Jeramey A., who rigged his truck so that when he drove down an embankment his neck would break.

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A Toronto Star colleague, Joe Fiorito, now retired, wrote about another in 2010 – Frankie Robertson, who also killed himself, another man ruined by the family law and child support enforcement systems in this country. Barbara Kay of the National Post wrote about Paul Donovan the same year; he lay down in the path of an oncoming train.

But the names are blips.

The conventional reaction to these stories is akin to those about men who are falsely accused of sexual assault, yet left with reputations in tatters.

Few have the appetite to discuss the wrongly accused sexual offender.

The usual response is, too bad so sad, but what about all the women who are sexually assaulted, who don’t even feel comfortable reporting to police? Ditto with fathers who are driven to suicide: Too bad so sad, but what about all the deadbeat dads? What about all the men who ignore their child support obligations?