False rape accuser who caused man to be arrested is given 'strong words of advice' by police

7-28-15 National:

A woman claimed she was raped, so the police went into action and did what they normally do when that occurs. They cordoned off the area where the rape occurred, and they arrested a 32-year-old male scapegoat.

One little problem. It turned out there was no rape. An innocent young man had been wrongly arrested.

So, the police went into action and did what they normally do when that occurs. They thanked the public "for their patience" while they conducted inquiries into the incident-that-never-was, and then -- they let the woman go. Not a single charge was lodged against her. Her name wasn't even mentioned in the various news articles about the incident. Her anonymity is in tact, so the next man who's wrongly arrested on her say-so won't have any way of identifying her as a serial false rape accuser.

Oh, but wait, dear reader. Don't think for a minute that that this woman wasn't punished for subjecting a young man to one of the worst things that can happen to a human being. A police spokeswoman said this: “The woman has been given strong words of advice by police for her actions.”

Read it again: "strong words of advice." Yep. Imagine if you read a story about a rapist being given "strong words of advice." What do you think would happen to that police chief? But for false rape accusers, that's as much punishment as they deserve. It's business-as-usual in our "rape culture."

Is it any wonder that rape accusers believe, with justification, they can cry rape with impunity, for any or no reason at all? A female bus driver lied about being gang raped so she could get her hours at work switched. Women have lied about rape to avoid taking the bar exam and to exact revenge on boyfriends who take too long to buy cigarettes and on men who refuse to buy them a beer. One false rape accuser was just "bored." Cab drivers are a favorite target of false accusers looking for a free fare. The list goes on and on. They lie because they are rarely punished, and they know it. As a result, serial false rape accusers aren't just tolerated, they are rewarded for telling successful lies. See here and here. And even when they are caught, their enablers in the sexual grievance industry insist they should not be prosecuted, much less punished. When a 15-year-old girl told a rape lie that got a 14-year-old boy arrested, anti-rape campaigners said "it is awful that a girl so young has been prosecuted in this way." ..Continued.. by COTWA

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Texas Sees Rise in Overturned Sexual Abuse Convictions from DNA Testing

5-25-2014 Texas:

Being accused of a crime you haven't committed can be devastating. Unfortunately, several wrongly convicted individuals are just now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel after years behind bars. Falsified claims are a serious threat and this issue is quickly becoming recognized by mainstream media. In particular, false allegations involving child sexual abuse or child abuse can wreak havoc to family relations and cause lingering stress. Recently thousands of untested DNA rape and sexual abuse kits were sent to a third party crime lab for testing after decades collecting dust in Harris County evidence rooms. Fortunately, a few cases have already been turned over after DNA evidence proved their innocence.

A false allegation of child sexual abuse rarely originates with the child. Many studies show that false allegations originate with an adult filing accusations on behalf of the child, and a large majority often occur in the context of divorce or child custody battles. A lot of these allegations are perpetrated for a number of reasons; revenge, rejection, cover ups, etc. False reports that occur in custody disputes involve one adult coercively questioning a child, believing that abuse has occurred if if the child maintains they were not abused.

Take the case of Daryl Kelly Sr., for example. Accused in 1997 on charges of child sexual abuse by his daughter, he was charged with multiple counts of rape solely on the word of his accuser despite no physical evidence. Fifteen years later, his daughter admitted that she had been coerced by her mother to lie against her father. Too young to understand her actions, she was forced to claim that her father raped her under the threat of punishment from her mother. Daryl Kelly Sr, a Navy veteran with a reputation of being honest and hardworking, refused a plea deal and denied the allegations, was sentenced to 20 to 40 years. The false accusation sent him to prison where he still remains. Now, his daughter is fighting to get him released, but every appeal has been denied.

A similar case of false allegation came up last year, when Cassandra Kelly admitted that she had falsely accused her father of child sexual abuse because she was upset about her parents' divorce. Her father was sent to prison in 2001 and was finally exonerated earlier this year. Cassandra Kelly decided to reveal the truth that sent her father to jail because her guilt prompted her.

Another such case is Sheldon Mosley, a 29-year-old man accused of sexually molesting his 4-year-old daughter. Mosley was at the time battling with his mother-in-law for custody rights over the girl. Physical examination of the girl did not substantiate the sexual assault claims, all tests were negative. However, the girl responded positively to all suggestive questions and a counselor assigned to her believed that Mosley had sexually assaulted the girl. Mosley was sentenced to 60 years in prison. Mosley's lawyer was later found to have been inadequate but the judge ruled that this had no bearing on the outcome of the case. Finally, after years of appeals and petitions, the then 21-year-old victim recanted her statement that she had been molested. She admitted that her grandmother had coerced her into accusing her father with promises of rewards and trips.

These cases represent a few examples of false conviction with very little to no corroborating evidence. There may be untold numbers of innocent people who are currently imprisoned due to false allegations. Numerous cases have been overturned due to latent DNA testing.

After a conviction, an individual can file an appeal post-conviction. A post-conviction writ of habeas corpus is a wrongly convicted person's chance to dispute the finding of their trial because of improper evidence handling, legal misconduct, and new evidence the court has not yet seen.

Just earlier this year in Houston, Texas, a backlog of previously untested DNA evidence have identified offenders in at least a third of the cases. The backlog includes 6,600 sexual assault kits that have been residing in a back room in the the Houston Police Department that have been handed over to two respected forensic laboratories. The new DNA testing helped in solving numerous cases and vindicating victims, and may one day exonerate others.

According to the National Registry of Exonerations there are many factors that contribute to false imprisonment. These factors include mistaken witness identification, perjury or false accusation, false confession, false forensic evidence and official misconduct. The chart below includes data for 305 wrongful convictions, which represents a small fraction of all wrongful convictions. The chart focuses on wrongful convictions that were exonerated because of false accusations. Unfortunately, child sex abuse wrongful conviction due to false accusation stands at the top.

Once convicted of child sexual abuse, it can many times take years to get exonerated even if the victim recants. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, the vast majority of false convictions never result in exoneration.

Therefore, the most important thing one can do if they are falsely accused of sexual crime, especially against a child, is to seek experienced legal counsel. The fallout of a false conviction can take years, even decades to reverse, and only with latent DNA testing or recantation. ..Source.. by Hill Law Firm

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Wife falsely accuses husband of rape because he behaved 'in an unchivalrous way'

4-11-2012 National:

Kelly-Ann Ferguson, 23, met her husband to try to patch up her broken marriage. They had sex, but he refused to end their estrangement, so she went to the police and falsely accused him of rape. She reported that he forced her to have oral sex by grabbing her head and forcing his penis into her mouth. Then, he supposedly pushed her on the bed and forced her to have vaginal sex.

The husband was arrested and held in custody for fifteen hours. The husband showed police a video he had taken of their sex act on his cell phone. The video shows that she was enjoying it -- she was giggling and laughing -- and that it was consensual.

Police confronted the wife, and she admitted it was all a lie. She had lied to get her husband in trouble because she was angry at him. According to her attorney, she lied because he had behaved "in an unchivalrous way" toward her.

The wife was convicted and jailed for nine months for perverting the course of justice.

The readers who commented under the original news story largely mirror the public's palpable disgust with false rape claimants. Invariably, some readers insist that these kinds of stories give license to men to videotape their sexual encounters in order to avoid unjust deprivations of liberty. It is well to keep in mind, however, that most men who secretly, and illegally in many jurisdictions, record their sexual encounters, do so for reasons having nothing to do with the fear of false rape claims.

Still, it is not certain what might have happened if there had been no video in this case. When people are incarcerated, whether for years, or even for "just" fifteen hours, because of a lie, and the lie is exposed only due to the happenstance that a video exists to prove the truth, it undermines public confidence -- including the confidence of potential jurors -- about "he said/she said" claims, which are common in rape cases.

Ms. Ferguson, and others who lie about rape, do a grave disservice not just to the persons charged because of their lies, but to all rape victims. ..Source.. by Community of the Wrongly Accused

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Father freed after 9 years; daughter says rape didn't happen

4-3-2012 Washington:

LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — A woman who said she lied as an 11-year-old when she said her father raped her won't be prosecuted for her testimony that sent him to prison for more than nine years.

Prosecutor Sue Baur said charging Cassandra Ann Kennedy of Longview might discourage other girls from reporting sexual assaults.

"This is the kind of thing that shouldn't happen," Baur said.

She noted, however, that it was simply a case of a person withdrawing their story — not an indictment of the system.

"Unfortunately, a man spent 10 years in prison before that happened," the prosecutor said.

Now 23, Kennedy said guilt prompted her to tell police that she lied in 2001 when she lived in Kalama,The Daily News reported Sunday.

"I did a horrible thing," Kennedy told detectives in January, according to a police report. "It's not OK."

Her father, Thomas Edward Kennedy, denied the rape allegation but was sentenced in 2002 to more than 15 years in prison. Now 43, he was released last week and all charges against him were dismissed. Reached Friday by the newspaper, he declined to comment, saying he's simply trying to get on with his life.

In recent months, Cassandra Kennedy has been staying at Mountain Ministries, a Christian addiction treatment center. Gary Miller, the organization's director, said she was in Mexico doing missionary work and couldn't be reached.

She told detectives this year that she wanted to talk about her father's conviction, according to investigative reports.

Kennedy told police her father never touched her. For nearly a decade, she said, he had been sitting in prison based on her lies.

"I just want him to be out and freed," Kennedy said in her interview with detectives. Then, she said, "I will be free on the inside."

Kennedy said she got the idea of setting up her father from a friend whose stepfather was sent to prison for a child sex crime.

"I thought that is what I would do to make my dad go away," she told police.

Thomas Kennedy and his wife divorced around 1991, and their daughters, Cassandra and her older sister, began spending one weekend a month with their father, according to court documents. The girls slept on foam mattresses in the living room of Kennedy's home.

"I wanted him to love me, and I didn't think he did at that time," she told the detectives.

Kennedy said she made up the rape story largely because her father disappointed her. "I took my own vengeance," she told police

The jury convicted Thomas Kennedy of three counts of first-degree rape of a child and the conviction had been upheld on appeal. ..Source.. by KATU.com

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Fairfax teacher Sean Lanigan still suffering from false molestation allegations

5-15-2011 Virginia:

Sean Lanigan’s nightmare began in January 2010, when the principal at Centre Ridge Elementary School pulled him out of the physical education class he was teaching and quietly walked him into an interrogation with two Fairfax County police detectives.

He had no warning that a 12-year-old girl at the Centreville school had accused him of groping and molesting her in the gym.

The girl, angry at Lanigan about something else entirely, had made the whole thing up. But her accusations launched a soul-sapping rollercoaster ride that still hasn’t ended.

“Emotionally, a part of me has died inside,” Lanigan said in a recent interview. “I’m physically and mentally exhausted all the time, how the whole process has been dragged out to this date. It certainly has affected the quality of life for me and my family at home.”

Lanigan remains in limbo, nearly a year after a jury’s acquittal. The Fairfax School District transferred him from Centre Ridge in a move that ultimately forced his wife to quit her job. School officials are now transferring him again. And the district has refused to pay his $125,000 in legal fees, even though Virginia law allows reimbursement for employees who are cleared of wrongdoing on the job.

Lanigan will never forget the day he was pulled from class. Shortly after the detectives questioned him, Lanigan, then 43 — a married father of three with a long history of service as a teacher, top-ranked soccer coach and neighborhood babysitter — had to tell his children he was going to be arrested.

“We try to teach them to do the right thing,” Lanigan said, “and I had to tell them that Daddy was going to jail and my name was going to be on the news. It was heartbreaking.”

That was followed by four nights in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

“It was scary,” he said. “I was just wide-eyed. I’m an accused child molester. I’m thinking, ‘How am I going to last in here?’ ”

From there, Lanigan spent months in anxious exile, forced from his school, his players, his neighbors and his friends, pondering the possibility of up to 40 years in a state penitentiary.

That soon turned to relief. A jury found him not guilty after just 47 minutes of deliberation — virtually unheard of in a child sex abuse case. Jurors were outraged by the lack of evidence, with one weeping in sympathy during closing arguments.

But still the nightmare continues, as Lanigan struggles to earn back his reputation and career.

Within two weeks of the accuser’s report — without ever speaking to the girl — Fairfax detectives arrested Lanigan and charged him with aggravated sexual battery and abduction. The Washington Post is not naming the accuser because she is a minor.

Police issued a press release with Lanigan’s booking photo and home address, and the school district sent home a letter about his arrest. TV trucks descended on the school and his neighborhood, and Lanigan’s reputation took a lasting beating. Even today, the first thing that comes up in a Google search of Sean Lanigan is a Web site called “Bad Bad Teacher.” ..Source: Has more pages of story.. by Tom Jackman

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Accrington men tell sex assault charges 'hell'

9-8-2010 United Kingdom:

TWO Accrington men acquitted of sexually assaulting a woman have told of their ‘two years of hell’ since being accused.

Paul Berry, 33, of Park Road, Richard O’Brien, 26, of Norfolk Grove, both Accrington, and Jamie Clayton, 30, of Rossendale Avenue, Morecambe, were cleared by a jury following a second trial.

They were accused of carrying out a sex attack on the woman after she claimed they had bullied her outside a house in Riding Barn Street, Accrington, on September 26, 2008.

The men had insisted they just exchanged banter with the woman, and were stunned days later to find they had been accused of sexually assault.

Mr Berry and Mr O’Brien said the accusations led to them being shunned by friends and work colleagues and branded ‘rapists’ by vigilantes who vandalised their homes.

Both have added their voices to the debate over anonymity for men accused of sex attacks, saying ‘mud sticks’. The new coalition government were said to be proposing a change in the law to work alongside the anonymity of victims.

In April 2009, the three men first stood trial at Burnley Crown Court and jurors failed to reach a verdict.

When the retrial finished after four days, the jury took just 12 minutes to return unanimous not guilty verdicts last week.

Father-of-one Mr Berry, who works at Asda supermarket in Accrington, said: “When I was suspended from work, that made me look guilty straight away. I’ve had colleagues shouting ‘Oi, rapist’ in front of customers.

“My family have stood by me even though I can’t even go into my local pub.”

Mr O’Brien said he was angry about that the case was brought to court: “I’ve had my door kicked in and my windows smashed for something I didn’t do.

“This has been hanging over us for two years. It’s been embarrassing. I saw a friend and he wouldn’t speak to me, then his girlfriend said ‘You're up for raping a girl’.

“When we got the not guilty verdict it felt like the world had been lifted of my shoulders.

“Yet because we were accused, people still think we’re guilty. There should be anonymity for the accused until proven guilty.” ..Source.. Sam Chadderton, Crime reporter

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Man released after 3 years in jail for false rape charges

12-11-2009 Indiana:

A construction worker imprisoned for nearly three years was cleared by an apologetic judge on Thursday after his accuser admitted she lied about being gang raped to make her friends feel sorry for her.

William McCaffrey hugged his lawyer when state Supreme Court Justice Richard Carruthers – who also presided over William McCaffrey’s rape and kidnapping trial – threw out the conviction and dismissed the initial charges. DNA tests also had called the conviction into doubt.

“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” the soft-spoken McCaffrey said outside court. “I’m just glad it’s over.”

McCaffrey, 32, has been free on $5,000 bail since September.

Biurny Peguero, then 22, originally said three men, led by McCaffrey, raped her at knifepoint after tricking her into getting into their car after a night out in 2005.
She testified at his trial and said at his 2006 sentencing that the “tragedy changed my life forever.” He got a 20-year prison term.

Defense lawyer Glenn A. Garber later persuaded prosecutors to use new technology to retest DNA samples from an apparent bite mark on Peguero’s arm.

The initial tests were inconclusive. The new tests showed the genetic material not only wasn’t McCaffrey’s but came from at least two women, apparently friends of Peguero’s who fought with her.

Peguero confessed her lie to a priest and then to authorities this year. She claimed she was raped because she wanted her friends “to feel badly” for her, and then was afraid to back down from her story as the case continued, prosecutors said in court filings this fall.

Peguero, who is now married and uses the name Biurny Gonzalez, pleaded guilty Monday to perjury. The 27-year-old faces up to seven years in prison at her sentencing, set for February.

Carruthers apologized, calling the case “a catastrophe” for both McCaffrey and the criminal justice system.

“I convey to you my personal regrets for having participated, though unknowingly, in the injustice,” said Carruthers, who had called the supposed attack “disgusting” during McCaffrey’s 2006 sentencing.

“Given the startling turn of events, I now retract what I said about you,” Carruthers said, later adding, “I wish you well.” ..Source.. Indiana Daily Student

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Cheating wife cried rape to hide three-month affair

12-8-2009 United Kingdom:

A CHEATING wife made up a rape claim to hide an affair – leading to two innocent men being arrested and £3,800 wasted on the police investigation.

Helen Dalby sent a text to her husband to say she had been followed home by a stranger and raped in a bedroom – because she felt guilty about having sex with her lover that day.

She had been having a three-month-long affair with him after meeting through a telephone dating service – and he was later arrested during the police investigation.

Dalby, 35, of St Michael's Road, Grimsby, has been given a 10-month suspended prison sentence – with a single condition that she lives for six months in her own home – for admitting perverting the course of justice between August 14 and 22 by making a false rape claim.

Grimsby Crown Court was told she claimed to police that she had been followed, pushed into her house by a stranger and raped in a bedroom.

The investigation led to hours of wasted police time, costing more than £3,800.

Dalby, the court was told, had shown little regard for the lives of the men who wrongly came under suspicion – and that they could have faced a "nightmare".

Judge David Tremberg told her: "Your lies diverted a massive amount of precious police time and resources from proper duty."

Two innocent men had been "locked up and detained for many hours" during the investigation, he continued.

"They no doubt will have wondered what might have happened to them if this nightmare did not go away," he added.

Judge Tremberg said behaviour such as Dalby's risked weakening the cases of genuine rape victims who came forward – and could possibly lead to potentially dangerous offenders being acquitted.

The prosecution pointed out that in other, similar cases, prison sentences of two years or 18 months had been imposed.

But Judge Tremberg claimed this case was "exceptional" because, unlike the cases of other women who had been jailed, Dalby did not act out of "spite or malice". ..Source.. Grimby.co.uk

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Alleged false rape claim woman in court

12-8-2009 United Kingdom:

A WOMAN who allegedly falsely claimed she was raped at a Hampshire beauty spot has appeared in court for the first time.

Gemma Mann is charged with perverting the course of justice in relation to an alleged incident at Royal Victoria Country Park in Netley on November 14, which sparked a largescale police investigation.

Yesterday, the 24-year-old, of St Clements Way, Bishopdown, Salisbury, attended a preliminary hearing at Southampton Magistrates’ Court.

No plea was entered and Mann was released on unconditional bail until December 3, when she is due to appear at Southampton Crown Court. ..Source..

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Teenager admits false rape claim

12-8-2009 United Kingdom:

Elgin court told of huge investigation

PREGNANT teenager’s mother said today she was mystified over why her daughter falsely claimed she had been raped at knifepoint.

Moray College student Lucinda Hicks, of 23 Kingsmills, Elgin, told officers she had been raped by an unidentified man on a pathway near Grampian Road, Elgin, on April 9.

Elgin Sheriff Court heard the false allegations resulted in Grampian Police devoting almost 800 police officer hours to the inquiry and questioning more than 300 people.

Hicks, 17, who is due to give birth early in January, admitted making false representations and causing the police to devote time and services, at the public expense, to an investigation which she knew to be false.

Fiscal depute Ann-Maria Colquhoun said Hicks was found in a distressed state by a restaurant employee. She told the court: “She asked what was wrong and the accused told her she had been raped. She also noted that the accused had cuts to the right side of her face and her lip was bleeding.”

Ms Colquhoun added after the investigation was launched, Hicks’s story was found to be inconsistent.

“She eventually admitted, during a lengthy interview, that she had lied,” she said.

Defence solicitor Alison Ross said Hicks was believed to have been suffering from depression at the time.

Hicks’s mother Ella said her daughter had suffered a miscarriage and her grandmother had died shortly before the incident.

She said she was “petrified” at the prospect of a custodial sentence.

Sentence was deferred for background reports until December 14. ..Source.. Evening Express

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Madison woman facing possible charges over false rape report, police say

12-8-2009 Wisconsin:

Fitchburg police say they are considering charges against a 25-year-old Madison woman who made up a story about being sexually assaulted to avoid having to explain that she spent the night at a friend's home.

Police have not yet identified the woman, who told police Saturday that she was assaulted after getting into a man's vehicle in the 3300 block of Leopold Way on Friday afternoon.

The woman had told police that the man offered to drive her to a gas station after her own car broke down. While she was in the vehicle, a second man who had been hiding in the vehicle attacked her, she initially told police, and the men did not release her from the vehicle for several hours.

The entire incident was made up, police said. The woman reportedly was trying to cover up her whereabouts after leaving her son at her mother's Madison home Friday afternoon and failing to return until Saturday.

Lt. Todd Stetzer said the department spent more than 30 hours on the case and may seek restitution from the woman. ..Source.. State Journal Staff

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Shelby Woman Indicted For Making False Rape Claim

12-8-2009 Ohio:

A Shelby woman was indicted by the Richland County Grand Jury on charges of escape, falsification and making false allegations after she ran out of a police cruiser in early October and accused the officer of raping her.

The incident began when Samantha Ramirez, 19, collapsed during a hearing in Shelby Municipal Court and was taken to MedCentral Shelby Hospital for treatment by Shelby Police Officer John Guisinger. After treatment, Ramirez was being transported to the Richland County Jail when she jumped out of the vehicle an fled.

She was later found at Ashland Samaritan Hospital where she accused the officer of raping her. She later confessed she lied. ..Source.. WMFD.com

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False Rape Charge ‘Ruined His Life’ But No Repercussions for Her

10-20-2009 National:

Since Emily Bazelon claims to be concerned about false rape claims, I'd be interested in her take on this one (LoHud.com, 10/1/09). But it's more than just a false rape claim, it's a false DV claim and parental kidnapping all rolled into one. Into the bargain, the perpetrator got off scott free. So what say you Ms. Bazelon? Anything?

It all started when Stephen Vaughn had an argument with his wife. Vaughn is an injured war veteran with a prescription for Percocet to help him deal with the pain from his injuries. So when his wife kept pilfering his pain meds to feed her addiction, he got angry, confronted her, yelled and slammed his hand down onto the bed. He threatened to have her removed from the house if she didn't stop abusing drugs and alcohol.

That got him thrown out of his house and out of his autistic son's life via the usual expedient, a temporary restraining order. But his wife Rebecca didn't stop there. She gilded the lily by adding a rape charge, a kidnapping charge and numerous others.

So Vaughn was arrested and spent a year in jail. Although the article is not clear, it appears that the grand jury refused to indict Vaughn on the rape charge, but last month he was tried and acquitted of kidnapping and other unspecified charges. As things stand now, he's free (as in, "nothin' left to lose") and his attorney has written to the district attorney requesting that Rebecca Vaughn be charged with perjury. She's fled New York for the sunny climes of Florida, taking their son with her. Stephen hasn't seen the boy in over a year and doesn't expect to any time soon.

Incomprehensibly enough, the otherwise sympathetic article says that "the system actually worked in the end." Really? I wonder if Vaughn would agree. Let's see. He was falsely accused, spent who knows how much on legal fees, spent a year in jail, lost his house, his job and his son. His attorney says, "His life is ruined." And his wife has so far suffered no repercussions at all.

If that's the system "working," I'd hate to see what happens when it's broken. Perhaps Emily Bazelon can explain. ..Source.. by Robert Franklin, Esq.

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TX- Woman who claimed rape out on bail

10-20-2009 Texas:

A 26-year-old woman is free on bail after being arrested this weekend on a charge of making a false report.

Police said Nicole Soto falsely claimed two San Antonio police officers raped her. Soto was arrested Saturday and posted bail the same day, authorities said.

She also was charged abandoning a child with the intent to return, among other charges. Police said the charges stem from an incident that occurred near a West Side apartment complex on April 16.

A police incident report states that police were called to the 5600 block of West Durango Street around 2:45 a.m. for an intoxicated woman in a vehicle with a child. When police arrived, they found a toddler asleep in the unlocked vehicle, but the mother wasn't around.

Police later found her wandering around the complex.

After being arrested, Soto claimed the officers raped her. Police later determined the accusations were false. ..Source.. by Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News

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VA- RU student recants story about being assaulted

10-20-2009 Virginia:

A Radford University student who reported being sexually assaulted by a stranger last week has recanted her story.

The university issued a description of a suspect in the case on Oct. 8 and disseminated a "timely warning" to the university community, as required by federal law.

The student told RU police that she was assaulted near Peters Hall by a stranger and gave a detailed description of the alleged assailant.

On Thursday, university spokesman Jeff Douglas issued a news release that read in part: "investigators have determined that the alleged victim fabricated the details of the description" and that the complaint was unfounded.

"The student's motive for filing a false report is unknown," Douglas wrote.

She has been referred to the campus judicial system and could face possible sanctions for filing a false complaint.

Campus police are investigating another report of a sexual assault that allegedly occurred Sunday, Douglas said in an interview.

It's unclear if the victim in that case knew the alleged assailant.

Since August, Radford city police have received five reports of forcible rape off campus, Chief Don Goodman wrote in an e-mail this week.

One of those cases resulted in an arrest.

So far this year, the number of sexual assault and rape reports in the city do not seem elevated relative to other years, Goodman said. ..Source.. by Tonia Moxley

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GA- Woman accused of false rape report arrested

10-17-2009 Georgia:

Macon police arrested a woman today and charged her with making a false report of a crime and false statements, a release said.

Police arrested Tomeika Strange, 21, of Macon. She had recently accused two individuals of kidnapping and rape on Oct. 9 at a gas station on Houston Avenue.

An investigation by police and the Southeastern Regional Fugitive Task Force showed the accusations to be untrue. ..Source.. by Macon.com

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LA- Keithville woman arrested for false rape report

10-17-2009 Louisiana:

SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) - A Keithville woman is now behind bars after allegedly filing a false police report.

Shreveport Police arrested 22-year-old Olivia Green who now faces a charge of criminal mischief, after reporting back on October 8 that she had been abducted and sexually assaulted.

Police say Green originally told officers that she had been kidnapped from a convenience store on W. 70th St., back on October 5, by two males who then allegedly held her captive for four days, where she was also sexually assaulted.

Upon investigating, detectives soon learned that Green had lied and was never kidnapped or sexually assaulted. ..Source.. by KSLA.com

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IN- Valpo woman sentenced after pleading guilty to false rape report

10-15-2009 Indiana:

A Valparaiso woman who the Porter County Sheriff’s Police said falsely accused a man of raping her has been sentenced to 180 days in jail after pleading guilty to a charge of false reporting.

Erica Donohue, 20, of 1209 1/2 Chicago St., was sentenced to 180 days in jail, with all but 20 days in jail and 10 days of community service suspended, police said.

According to police, on July 15 Donohue reported being raped by an acquaintance of hers in rural Porter County.

Det. Gene Hopkins of the PCSP subsequently undertook an “extensive investigation,” on the basis of which the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office issued a warrant not for the man’s arrest but Donohue’s,” police said.

Donohue was arrested on Sept. 29. “During the following interview, Donohue admitted to not being raped and fabricated the rape accusation to conceal her whereabouts from an individual with whom Donohue was having a relationship,” police said. “A consensual video of the incident had been discovered during the investigation.” ..Source.. by Chesterton Tribune

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OH- Sheriff: Woman admits concocting rape story vs. Shelby cop

10-9-2009 Ohio:

SHELBY — A woman claiming she was sexually assaulted by a Shelby police officer has confessed to concocting the rape allegations, authorities reported Thursday morning.

Already charged with felony escape, Samantha Ramirez is facing criminal charges for making false allegations stemming from her jumping from a police cruiser on Monday, according to a statement from Richland County Sheriff Steve Sheldon and Shelby police Chief Charles Roub Jr.

Authorities say the 19-year-old Shelby woman bolted from Officer John Guisinger’s cruiser as he was driving her to the county jail via MedCentral/Shelby Hospital after her appearance Monday in Shelby Municipal Court. There on charges of falsification and resisting arrest, Ramirez apparently lost consciousness in the courtroom.

Having dodged a search by local, county, state and federal authorities, Ramirez turned up Monday night at Ashland Samaritan Hospital. It was there, according to the Richland County sheriff, that Ramirez leveled the rape accusation against Guisinger.

Roub said Thursday that an emergency vehicle transported Ramirez, accompanied by a U.S. Marshal, from Ashland to MedCentral/Mansfield Hospital, where she underwent a forensic examination before being transferred to Richland County Jail.

On Wednesday, still incarcerated, Ramirez was said to have confessed to Sheriff’s Sgt. John Nicholson that she made up the rape story.

The Richland County Sheriff's Office has been investigating Ramirez’s allegation of sexual assault, while Shelby Police Department launched an internal probe.

According to the press release, Guisinger failed to handcuff the woman, who had been wrapped in a blanket and saying she was sick.

“Although the cruiser’s door latches are disabled from the rear interior, the window switches are not. A master window lockout switch was not engaged on the driver’s door, allowing the rear windows to be operated from the rear,” the joint statement said. “Windows must be able to open for safety and operator/passenger comfort and are therefore not completely disabled.”

Several eyewitnesses reported Ramirez simply rolled down the window, opened the door using the outside door handle and jumped out as the cruiser slowed for a school zone. After her exit, Ramirez sprinted into a cornfield before Guisinger could stop and get out of the car.

Guisinger, who Roub said did not follow departmental procedure regarding the transport of prisoners, faces internal disciplinary action.

Authorities said Guisinger voluntarily underwent a forensic exam in an effort to disprove Ramirez’s assault allegation.

Charges are expected to be filed against Ramirez in the matter, pending the outcome of discussions between the Richland County Prosecutor’s Office and the Shelby’s law director. She remains in jail on $500,000 bond.

Charges also are pending against several others suspected of involvement in the case.

According to Sheldon’s and Roub’s joint press release Thursday, after fleeing Guisinger’s squad car, Ramirez got a ride to Shelby from a yet unidentified woman; from there, investigators have determined, a family member gave her a ride to Ashland. ..Source.. by

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IN- Girl facing criminal charges for lying about abduction attempt

10-4-2009 Indiana:

A 12-year-old girl told police, family and friends a man tried to abduct her, but investigators say she made it all up. Now she's in big trouble.

LaPorte Police Capt. Clyde Crass said the girl's story about how the abduction took place didn't add up for her mother. The mother talked to her daughter after school Friday and the girl confessed she made it all up so she wouldn't get in trouble for being in a neighborhood where she wasn't supposed to be.

WSBT talked to the girl's grandmother Friday afternoon before the lie was uncovered. The grandmother explained she reluctantly gave her granddaughter permission to ride her bike to a friend's house Thursday afternoon.

According to the police report, the girl got lost and a man stopped and asked her if she was cold. When she said yes, he asked if she wanted to go back to his house and warm up in his bed.

The girl then told investigators the man grabbed her off her bike. He then took off when she started screaming.

She ran to a friend's house to call 911.

“I was devastated, it was frightening,” said the girl's grandmother, Christina McPherson, before she found out about the lie. “I've read about it before but I guess I never dreamed it would happen to my granddaughter, never at all. And I do hope they catch him.”

As a result of the girl's police report, a second mother called detectives and told them her daughter and a friend had a similar encounter Wednesday afternoon.

The LaPorte Police Department was taking the attempted abduction allegations so seriously it put two detectives on the case.

Crass said the department is taking the 12-year-old's lie just as seriously because it tied up valuable resources at a time when budgets are tight and they are very busy investigating legitimate cases.

The girl will likely be charged with a class B misdemeanor for “false reporting,” or lying to police.

Detectives are still looking into a separate allegation of an attempted abduction. That mother came forward to police when the 12-year-old's story first came out. Police think two little girls may have been approached by a man Wednesday afternoon. ..Source.. by WSBT-TV Report

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