An aviation consultant whose “nearly impossible” child custody battle raged for years in Wyoming’s court system is suing a Teton County newspaper, saying it falsely labeled him a child abuser despite court documents contradicting the claim.

David Laurence Mecartney filed his $25 million federal defamation lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming against the Jackson Hole News&Guide.

Mecartney is an aviation consultant living in Arizona, court documents say, while the Jackson Hole News&Guide is registered in Wyoming under the business name Teton Media Works.

The controversy revolves around a May 21 story by Guide reporter Jasmine Hall featuring David Mecartney’s son, Dune Mecartney, and Dune’s advocacy effort to give kids “a safe haven” from child abuse.

In the publ

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