Old Boss Emailed My Current Boss, Accusing Me Of Crimes I Didn't Commit.

I worked for my old boss 5 years ago and quit due to personal safety concerns. In short, this person should not be working with children or animals.

On Friday, I found out that he has a new business working directly with small children. I sent his client (an elementary school) a link to a reputable news article about my old boss with no other accusations, claims, etc. The news article in question details safety violations, criminal accusations, and even a death at his old business. The school staff member was horrified and thanked me for sharing.

My old boss found out. He began sending my boss and HR dept emails, saying I was a disgruntled former employee who was seeking revenge. He threatened to sue me. Even after my HR dept asked them to stop emailing, he sent three more emails and recruited their assistant to send a fourth.

My boss and HR department have expressed that I did nothing wrong, I was right to warn the school, and they are only concerned for my wellbeing.

Yesterday, he sent another email to my boss, my boss' boss, all of my boss' boss' peers, and our HR department.

The email accused me of several things, without any proof: - Calling his clients and accusing him of hurting animals/children - Hacking into his personal email - Stealing $900 from his credit card to make a purchase at BestBuy - Using company resources and devices to do all of these things

My company's legal team is now involved but haven't made any statements/decisions, and I am innocent of all of his accusations. Nobody has replied to a single email, minus HR asking him to stop.

I am told that I should take him to court. I found out that I have legal insurance that will cover this 100%.

Any advice? Are his actions illegal? Do you think I'd get fired for this?

Location: I'm in Pennsylvania, USA but my old boss is in Maryland.