I am officiating games in Bay Area for almost 7 years. My 2 kids play soccer. Sometimes, we come and watch games with our friend's kids. I never observed behavior when referee would threaten kids or make fun of them. I don't even understand how it could be.
Sometimes, you can see a referee, after a whistle, come and talk to a player addressing some dirty or dangers play and warn them not to do it again and that next time they can get yellow or red card. Is that what you call 'threatening player'?
Regarding filing a 1099. Do you know that, again, in Bay Area, referees don't get cash on hands anymore and they have to file W-9 in other to get paid. And if a referee get more than $600 in a year then it's going to be reported as non-employment income to the IRS.
So, please, don't say what you don't know.
And even if in some places referees still get some cash on hands you still don't say they don't report it to IRS as you wouldn't know that.
And, if you really want to address some issue with bad officiating you are aware of or witnessed while your kid was playing or etc. then please do it. Contact referee org like
http://www.norcalreferees.com/contact_us/. Trust me every complain towards bad referee behavior or bad officiating will be investigated. And regardless of the shortage of referees they won't hesitate to address the issue in the right way.