A WOMAN is facing charges of making a false complaint to police after claiming she was raped in Port Melbourne last month.Which is nice of her, but what the hell did she think would be felt by any poor bloke unfortunate enough to be arrested for this non-existent attack? Upset? That'd be an understatement. Hopefully the lack of any mention of an arrest means the false report emerged before anyone was nicked.
The 22-year-old's story prompted a man-hunt for the alleged offender and a significant police investigation, costing thousands of dollars in time and resources.
On May 28, Victoria Police contacted the Sunday Herald Sun with the story in a bid to alert the public and appeal for help to find the alleged offender. When contacted on Friday by the Sunday Herald Sun, the woman, who is receiving counselling, said she was sorry for lying.
"I haven't meant to upset anyone," she said.
The woman claimed she was still the victim of a sexual assault, which occurred "somewhere else".Oh really? You say there was an assault but you just lied about where it took place? Okay, I'm sold, though it doesn't sound like the police are.
Detective Sgt Paul Toogood said a brief of evidence was being compiled to determine whether the woman would be charged with making a false report.Christ knows why some women do this when half a second's rational thought should tell them how much this must twist the knife for genuine rape victims. With everything else they'll be going through they must also then wonder if they'll be believed because some attention seeker cried rape before.
Sgt Toogood said the Port Melbourne community needed to be informed the rapist did not exist.
Police said they hoped the false report would not discourage victims from coming forward for help.Rare? Maybe they are here, I don't know. But I do know someone who can put her hands on an ever increasing list of British examples. Would it be that much better here? I'd certainly hope it's rarer, and if they do prosecute false reports it might be, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's not all that different.
Detective Sen-Constable Mark Feehan said: "Victoria Police encourages all victims of sexual assault to come forward so police can provide support, investigate and prosecute offenders."
Centre Against Sexual Assault spokeswoman Carolyn Worth said false reports, while rare, were a "tricky issue".
"It makes everybody slightly wary when there is a similar allegation, which we cannot afford," she said.
*Though given the sensitivity of her antennae (er, not that extinct sabre-tooths probably had antennae) I wouldn't be surprised if she's blogging it right now.
Well spotted! No, I hadn't seen that one.
ReplyDeleteNotice how the anti-rape group spokescreature's first thought was not for the innocent men accused, but for the impact this would have on her cause?
I have a certain amount of sympathy with the spokescreature (heh!) since there seems to have been nobody arrested in this case, and I do agree that this idiots and attention seekers who cry rape do damage the credibility of genuine victims. But you're quite right that the concern about some poor guy being wrongfully arrested, and maybe even tried and convicted, was conspicuous by its absence. Possibly selective reporting is to blame and we should give her the benefit of doubt. The Age is often like an upside down version of the Graun and I'd be prepared to believe that they might ont have thought it worth printing if she had said it.
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