PA- Student charged with falsely reporting rape by a police officer

9-19-2009 Pennsylvania:

A female student in the class of 2012 is facing several charges from Bethlehem and state police, who allege that she falsely reported that she was raped by a Lehigh police officer.

State police charged the student last Friday with false reports to law enforcement authorities following original charges from Bethlehem police on Sept. 3.

According to the court records, Bethlehem police officers found the student, 19, lying in the middle of the roadway of the 600 block of Parkhill Street late in the evening on Sept. 3.

After an officer approached her, the student proceeded to stand up and stagger in the officer's direction, visibly under the influence of alcohol.

When the officer began questioning her, the student gave him false information about her identity, including a fake name, date of birth and place of residence, according to court records.

After taking the student into custody for underage drinking, Bethlehem police transported her to her sorority house on Upper Sayre Park Road to verify her identity.

State police were called to the sorority house following a report from the student that she had been raped the night before.

According to the court records, the student changed her story when recounting it for the state police, telling them that a man identifying himself as a Lehigh police officer pulled up in a vehicle outside her sorority house, where the student was standing.

The student said she voluntarily got in the man's car and he subsequently tried to grab her inappropriately.

She said that she fled from the vehicle and did not report the encounter until the next night, when she was arrested.

When the student was asked to sign a statement about the incident, she refused and said she wished to recant the whole thing, according to records.

The student was then further questioned about the allegations and eventually said that she had indeed fabricated her entire account.

The student then prepared a new written statement saying that she had lied about the entire incident and signed it, according to court documents.

The student is charged with false identification to law enforcement authorities, public drunkenness and underage drinking by the Bethlehem police. In addition, she is charged with false reporting from the state police. She will be receiving all of her charges by mail.

Bill Doherty, assistant director of editorial services for University Communications, could only confirm that the student is still enrolled at Lehigh.

"We cannot comment on either the police investigation or any campus actions since that is a matter of the educational record and therefore confidential," Doherty said.

State police and Lehigh Police Chief Edward Shupp were both unavailable to comment. The student facing charges also declined to comment. ..Source.. by Andrew Daniels