Retired private detective Jim Rockford must investigate a series of child rapes when his friend Ernie Landale, a respected school teacher, is accused of the molestations. Through circumstantial evidence, Landale is hounded by the police, the media, school officials, even people he thought were his friends, even though he has not been found guilty in a court of law, nor even charged with the crimes through much of the film. As Landale, his wife Rita, his attorney Beth and police lieutenant Becker fight the battle of public opinion, Rockford realizes the only way to clear his friend's name is to find the real rapist.