For readers researching online allegations
If you arrived here after searching for “David Bateman restraining order,” “David Bateman arrest,” “David Bateman domestic violence,” or “David Bateman abuse,” this page provides my first-person response to the allegations circulating online. My statement below addresses the resolved criminal matter, its subsequent expungement, and the separate allegations that I categorically deny.
The Public Record
The criminal matter referenced in some online content ended quickly. The charges were dropped two weeks after the arrest, and the case ended without a conviction.
Approximately three months later, after the criminal matter had already concluded, serious anonymous allegations began circulating online about me as though the matter were still active, unresolved, or substantiated.
The online material did not report an unresolved criminal case. It revived a matter that had already ended and presented allegations surrounding it in a manner that created a fundamentally misleading picture of both the legal outcome and me personally.
The associated criminal history record was subsequently ordered expunged by a Florida court.
When a criminal history record is expunged, a court has formally ordered the record removed from ordinary public access, subject to limited statutory exceptions. Florida law also permits a person whose record has been expunged to lawfully deny or fail to acknowledge the covered arrest in most circumstances. The purpose is to prevent a resolved criminal history record from continuing to follow a person indefinitely.
All of the established news organizations that had previously reported on the matter removed their coverage after receiving documentation of the expungement.
What remains online is anonymous material published on social media and discussion platforms, where it continues to appear in searches for my name despite the underlying legal matter having ended years ago. I have spent years pursuing lawful remedies to identify those responsible, hold them accountable, and address the continued publication of this material. That process is ongoing.
An arrest is not a conviction, an allegation is not a finding, and anonymously published accusations do not become true through repetition. Yet false information can still cause very real damage when people rely on it. Employers, clients, colleagues, friends, and others make judgments based on what appears in search results, and those judgments carry consequences. In my case, the gap between what was true and what people were led to believe has caused profound professional, financial, personal, and family harm.
I am deliberately limiting this section to facts that can be independently verified. A public website is not the appropriate place to relitigate every detail of a resolved legal matter.
False Allegations — Setting the Record Straight
Separate from the resolved legal matter, serious allegations about my personal conduct have been published anonymously across various online platforms.
I am not a perfect person. I have faced many challenges in my life, made mistakes, and handled some circumstances imperfectly. I own that without reservation. Anyone who knows me knows that I am accountable for my shortcomings and work diligently to overcome them.
What I will not do is accept responsibility for conduct I did not commit or allow false allegations to stand as the only public account. Serious claims about me have been presented online in a manner that is false, misleading, and profoundly damaging. I categorically deny those allegations and have preserved evidence concerning their continued publication and distribution.
The Professional Record
My professional record speaks for itself, and I am proud of it.
I have spent more than twenty years in commercial real estate building businesses, leading teams, recruiting professionals, advising clients, and creating enterprise value.
Hartman Income REIT
Officer and leasing executive for a portfolio approaching $750 million in value with nearly 300 employees, leading leasing operations across the portfolio as one of six company officers.
CBRE South Florida — Managing Director
Inherited a market that had lost approximately $60 million in revenue and led a multi-year turnaround that doubled the size of the operation in four years, nearly a full year ahead of a five-year plan. During that period, we opened two regional offices, navigated COVID with more than 200 employees, recruited and developed professionals across multiple business lines, and strengthened CBRE's position as the leading commercial real estate services platform in the region.
Foundry Commercial — Managing Director
Recruited to build and establish Foundry's brokerage business in South Florida. That opportunity was directly affected when the allegations discussed on this page became public. In the aftermath of the resulting reputational damage, Foundry discontinued the South Florida brokerage expansion I had been hired to build. A regional brokerage business capable of generating significant revenue, employing professionals, and creating substantial enterprise value was abandoned while it was still being built. That experience illustrates why online misinformation cannot be dismissed as merely words on a screen.
Continuing my work
I continue to apply the strengths in leadership, recruiting, business development, and value creation that have defined my career. What happened affected my career and caused real damage, but it did not end my ability to build, lead, or create value.
That is the professional record against which I ask to be judged. It was built over decades through work, relationships, leadership, and results. No anonymous account gets to define it. The work continues. I am still building.
The Impact
The consequences of this online material have been significant and documented.
It has affected professional opportunities, finances, personal relationships, and my family. My children have also been exposed to material that no child should encounter about a parent.
I am not publishing this statement to dramatize those consequences or ask for sympathy.
I am publishing it because remaining silent allowed anonymous accusations to become the only version of the story available to people who searched my name. That is no longer acceptable to me.
Moving Forward
I cannot control what anonymous individuals choose to publish online. I can control how I live, how I conduct myself professionally, how I respond to adversity, and whether the public record includes my voice.
I have preserved evidence concerning the creation, publication, and distribution of this material. I am pursuing appropriate legal remedies through counsel and intend to seek accountability from those responsible through the lawful processes available to me. I will address those matters in the proper forum while continuing to focus on my family, my work, and rebuilding what this experience has affected.
This statement exists so that anyone conducting legitimate due diligence has access to my account alongside the anonymous material published about me.
I welcome reasonable scrutiny of my actual record. That record belongs to me, and I intend to keep building it.
David James Bateman
South Florida
If you have questions about anything on this page or would like to reach out directly, I welcome the conversation.
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