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Woman once again makes false allegations of sexual assault

On Behalf of | Sep 26, 2013 | Sex Crimes

A woman from out east has been arrested and convicted a second time for allegedly fabricating stories of sexual assault.  She was convicted by a jury of filing a false report back on August 1st.  She had previously been fined for also filing a false report of sexual assault in 2002.

The judge accused the woman of attempting to manipulate the criminal justice system concerning a crime that never occurred.  He also expressed concern regarding the negative consequences the report would have for the individual falsely accused of the sexual assault.

This case demonstrates that false allegations of sex crimes do occur. The attorney for the woman suggested that his client suffered from significant mental illness. This may or may not be the case, but we need to take great care in making certain that testimony in sexual assault cases is reliable before handing down convictions to those accused of the act.

False allegations of sex crimes could happen in Colorado as well. It’s therefore vital that we get to the bottom of the truth whenever accusations of sexual assault are made.

The penalties for a conviction for a sex crime will almost always be severe. The prison sentence could amount to a number of years, and the person convicted will likely be ostracized. However, we have seen in recent years exoneration for individuals charged with these crimes because of advancements in DNA technology.

Criminal defense attorneys will help those wrongly accused contest false allegations of sexual assault. These attorneys will cross-examine witnesses on the stand and make certain only reliable testimony is allowed.

Hopefully false allegations of sexual assault are extremely rare. But even if this is a rare occurrence, we cannot allow even one innocent person to be convicted of this kind of crime.

Source: Midcoast, “Rockland woman gets 60 days in jail for false sexual assault report,” Stephen Betts, Aug. 28, 2013