MI- Infant's mother makes false CSC report

4-3-2008 Michigan:

An argument between three people sharing a Highland Township trailer reportedly led to false reports of criminal sexual conduct (CSC) involving an 8-month-old child, and the arrest of the infant's mother.

A 25-year-old Highland woman, an alleged registered sex offender who owns a trailer in the 2400 block of Bruce Street, called the Oakland County Sheriff's Department Highland Substation at 5:13 a.m. on Saturday, March 29, after her friend, a 17-year-old White Lake girl and the mother of the infant, threatening her. She said the 17-year-old had been "thrown out of her house" and was staying in the trailer's living room for a while. Another 25-year-old Highland woman also shares the trailer, paying $250 a month in rent.

After arriving, deputies separated the occupants and questioned all three about what had happened.

According to the trailer owner, she had gone to her mother's house the night before and returned home to find that the renter had brought her brother and a friend over. The owner had forbidden the renter from bringing friends over while she was gone, and the women reportedly argued when the trailer owner returned home.

After the argument, the trailer owner reportedly went to her bedroom with her boyfriend. Meanwhile, the renter, the 17-year-old girl and their friends were allegedly playing loud music in the living room.

According to the owner, she went out and asked for the music to be turned down, only to have it be turned up. After this, she returned to the living room and unplugged the radio and nearly came to blows with the 17-year-old.

The 17-year-old then allegedly threatened the trailer owner, "because (the 25-year-old owner is) a sex offender." The trailer owner then called 911.

When deputies arrived, the 17-year-old filed a report against the trailer owner, stating that the owner allegedly fondled her son. When questioned, the renter also stated that she allegedly witnessed the trailer owner touching the child in a sexual manner.

The three women were brought to the Highland Substation for additional questioning. Deputies asked the 17-year-old why she wasn't at home with her parents, and she replied that she had a pending domestic assault charge against her for allegedly attacking her 12-year-old sister, and was forbidden from returning home. She added that she couldn't stay with her child's father, since he was a witness in the domestic assault case.

The 17-year-old's mother was called. After speaking with the girl's mother, deputies found that the 17-year-old allegedly had assaulted her mother, her 18-year-old sister, and her 12-year-old sister. Her mother stated that her daughter had "burned all the bridges" she had, and had nowhere to stay.

Deputies asked the girl's mother if her daughter was a "credible witness," and the woman said she wasn't.

"(She) uses verbal manipulation and intimidation to get what she wants," the mother reportedly told deputies. "She's not credible."

The 17-year-old's story and the renter's account were found to have conflicting time lines, and the diagrams each had been asked to draw showed the trailer owner standing in opposite points of the living room during an alleged incident.

After being informed that her story was inconsistent, the 17-year-old was asked to rate her level of truthfulness, which she estimated at "80 percent."

The renter was informed that this was her chance to tell the truth, and that charges would be filed if it was determined that a false CSC report had been made. The renter then admitted that she had never seen the trailer owner fondle the child, and had gone along with the 17-year-old's story due to anger toward the trailer owner.

The 17-year-old was arrested for making a false police report, a felony which is punishable by four years in prison, and/or a $2,000 fine.

"(The 17-year-old) was given several opportunities to tell us the truth about what happened," said Sheriff's Department Detective Steven Zdravkovski of the Highland Substation. "(She) continued to change her story about what transpired between (the trailer owner) and her son."

The girl was set to be arraigned Monday, March 31, after press time.

"The important thing is that we stopped someone innocent from being sent to jail," Zdravkovski said. ..more.. by Stephanie Schneider