I was taking pictures at a State Fair when a police officer stopped me because he claims to have received multiple complaints of someone photographing kids. For context, I admitted to photographing inside of a barn where 4-H (program that teaches youth) kids (ages probably 8 to mid teens) handling different kinds of animals. The kids were bringing the animals to and from different locations around the barn. While photographing a man inside of the barn wanted me to stop taking pictures that included kids, and I did so. I actually just left the barn and continued taking pictures of other things at the fair. I photographed everything before & after the incident in the barn: rides, people of all kinds, animals, sometimes just structures that exist inside the fairgrounds. A police officer approaches me some time after regarding “complaints from inside the barn”. I explained what I was doing and that I left immediately after one older man (probably a staff member from 4-H) asked me to stop. I explained to the officer that I’ve photographed different fairs, sometimes for a local newspaper looking for fair pictures. He asked for my ID and I provided it to him because I was trying to be as cooperative and understanding as possible. Despite explaining myself and showing the officer examples of work, the officer wrote a report in which he claims that multiple individuals were accusing me of photographing small children at a barn. I find this troubling, especially because the statements are very damaging for someone who sometimes seeks paid work in photography. Could anything be done about this?

The State Fair’s social media promotes the work 4-H is doing, 4-H themselves post many pictures of kids and animals, and there are thousands of people taking the same pictures I was taking with their phones. I feel that I was targeted because of having a “proper camera”.

Any suggestions will help.