defamation of character

[<no_email@fake.address>]

I have recently been forced to resign from a position at a retail store by the advise of my legal counsel due to a false accusation of internal theft.
I began work at this particular store in October of 1998.  Since I was employed I was always awarded for excellent customer service by commission and positive regard from my manager.  There were several occasions when customers eagerly thanked me for my service.
The first problems I noticed in the store was that the assistant manager, a male, was changing my hours on the time sheet to less than what I had recorded even when he was not there to witness my hours himself.  I reported this problem to my district manager and not to my surprise he got away with a slap on the wrist.  Not even a write-up.  Please keep in mind that at the time I was only 17 years old and a female.  The next problem occured when my best friend of 17 years old came to work for the store.  The same man, the assistant manager, made sexual comments on numerous occasions to my friend which caused her so much embarassment that she had to quit.  Her parents persued the issue and, once again, he was not fired or even repremanded. 
I graduated from high school in January of 2001 and in order to concentrate solely on college, I quit my part-time job at the store.  Months later after realizing I, indeed, needed to work I obtained a job at a student loan organization in which I worked with client's personal files, finances, and credit.  This job also constantly rewarded me with compliments from supervisors and gratitude from customers but because of the strenuous hours, I had to leave.  I decided to talk to my manager at the previous store to re-apply at my previous job and she, in fact, did re-hire me.  At this time I was 18 years old.
I was only working at the store for about a month when money from the cash register began to come up missing.  At the time there were 7 employees.  The  manager, assistant manager, 1st keyholder (20 year old male), and the rest were salespeople (including me).  In the period of two weeks $585 was discovered missing.  Since I was the most recently hired employee and was present the days the money went missing I became the "prime suspect".  I was interrogated by the police and my family hired a high-priced attorney in case I had to be defended in court.  It turned out that there was no hard evidence against me such as surveillance which the district manager of the store claimed that he had or even a witness.  My being the "prime suspect" had been determined on the fact that the 1st keyholder had heard me discuss my "financial problems" to a friend.  He also slandered me saying that I "was supporting my boyfriend's drug habit" and I was "making drug-deals over the business telephone."  Please keep in mind that the day of the accusation I was required to take a drug test that came back clean and my boyfriend is required to take random drug tests at his job because he has his CDL license and all of them have come back clean.
The false accusations have not only caused embarrassment and humiliation to my family and me, but it has also caused my family to spend quite a bit of money on legal consultation not to mention the counseling I am to receive.  Because the total money that was missing was over $500 I was faced with a felony charged based on circumstantial evidence.  I was given the choice to pay the money to the store or be prosecuted for a felony.  I am currently a nursing student at a highly accredited college and even though having a felony charge would eliminate my chance of ever becoming a nurse, I did not want to pay the money that I never took in the first place.  Despite my plea to my mother not to pay, she is paying in order to help me attain my long-determined dreams of a nursing career.  Even though the case will be over for the store, it will never be over for me.  I feel like my 6th amendment rights were violated in that I was not informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, I was not confronted with the witnesses against me and I was not regarded even enough to have the assistance of counsel at the time of questioning.
I feel that some facts were overlooked in my case, hypothetically speaking.  These are the facts of my heart which cannot be disputed or discredited.  
I was raised in the military in which I was taught to love and defend my country and Constitution.  My step-father is a police officer who loves what he does dearly.  I feel that even though I still have respect and appreciation for the law enforcement officers, I have no appreciation for the justice system.  It has never let me down until now but, then again, I am only 18 years old.  For all of the people serving in the military for their country or the police officers protecting their own community, please take the time to ask yourselves, what are you really defending?  While you have my gratitude for protecting my family and me against truly commited crimes of hate and deceit, please remember those who are unjustly accused of a crime in order to close a case quickly and move on to the next.
For all of the retailers who need a scapegoat in order to save themselves from paycuts or repremand, in the process of pinning the most vulnerable employees, you are also seriously affecting that person's life and risking the future careers of the young people you hire yourself.