[declan]

> sue Cecile... Then expose her once she has been sentenced to prison.

First, if you sue someone, it's a civil action, not a criminal prosecution.

Second, if any statements are defamatory, they would be libel, not slander.

Third, truth is an absolute defense against libel claims. (And just for completeness, the U.S. does not have criminal libel laws.)

[_delirium]

> the U.S. does not have criminal libel laws

Some states do have criminal-libel laws, though there isn't a federal one. See: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/criminal-libel-statutes-...

[declan]

Quite right. I should have been more clear: Criminal libel laws may still be in the statute books, much like laws may still exist requiring someone carrying a red flag to walk in front of horseless carriages. But we should expect prosecutions under criminal libel laws to fail because of the modern interpretation of the First Amendment (and state constitutional protections that may be broader).

For instance a court in the 1990s struck down Montana's criminal libel law as unconstitutional: https://casetext.com/case/state-v-helfrich-1 But as far as I know it is still on the books.