interesting new twist on the "moral panic' era:

Grandma pays up for pedophile slander
A grandmother who called her in-law a pedophile has been ordered pay him $30,000 in damages, in a court ruling that shows even family feuds are subject to Australia's strict defamation laws.

A NSW District Court judge ordered the hefty payout even though only four people heard the slander, including the man's son and daughter, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Judge Judith Gibson said the pedophilia allegation, made during a child access dispute in July last year, was "like pouring oil into a fire" and caused the plaintiff "anxiety and concern."

"The fact that a serious defamation was published to persons who are close to the plaintiff does not make it any the less hurtful," she said.

The maternal grandmother of the child at the centre of the dispute