An Unbelievable Story of Rape, from the Marshall Project and ProPublica

[Brickbat]

An 18-year-old said she was attacked at knifepoint. Then she said she made it up. That’s where our story begins.

...(H)er misdemeanor had made the news, and made her an object of curiosity or, worse, scorn. It had cost her the newfound independence she was savoring after a life in foster homes. It had cost her sense of worth. Each ring of the phone seemed to announce another friendship, lost. A friend from 10th grade called to ask: How could you lie about something like that? Marie — that’s her middle name, Marie — didn’t say anything. She just listened, then hung up. Even her foster parents now doubted her. She doubted herself, wondering if there was something in her that needed to be fixed.

She had reported being raped in her apartment by a man who had bound and gagged her. Then, confronted by police with inconsistencies in her story, she had conceded it might have been a dream. Then she admitted making the story up. One TV newscast announced, “A Western Washington woman has confessed that she cried wolf when it came to her rape she reported earlier this week.” She had been charged with filing a false report, which is why she was here today, to accept or turn down a plea deal.

Her lawyer was surprised she had been charged. Her story hadn’t hurt anyone — no suspects arrested, or even questioned. His guess was, the police felt used. They don’t appreciate having their time wasted.

The prosecution’s offer was this: If she met certain conditions for the next year, the charge would be dropped. She would need to get mental health counseling for her lying. She would need to go on supervised probation. She would need to keep straight, breaking no more laws. And she would have to pay $500 to cover the court’s costs.

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/12/16/an-unbelievable-story-of-rape#.Ug6I4PmVM

A long read, but a good one, from The Marshall Project and ProPublica. If you've ever wondered about why someone would say she was raped, and then recant, you can read this for one explanation.

Lots of good insights into how police departments work together -- or, much more likely, don't.

Trigger warning for descriptions of B&E and rape.

[Brickbat]

1. Kick.

Important stuff.

[chowder66]

2. Important Story.

Thanks for posting this.

[Brickbat]

3. Thank you for reading!

[chowder66]

4. I wasn't expecting the outcome based on the title.

Have you seen the Detectives on Netflix? It's a docu-series that created a dedicated Rape Squad. This story shows why every department needs to incorporate one.

[Brickbat]

5. I'll admit I was holding my breath until the end.

I haven't -- I can't watch Neflix TV, because I live in an rural area that has slow internet. I'll put it on my list for when the day high-speed comes.

[ohheckyeah]

6. It didn't really explain her motivation to me. What did I miss?

The foster care system makes me sad. What a tough time she's had. How awful.

[Brickbat]

7. That's the point.

Some people have had terrible lives, are emotionally fragile, and then have terrible luck when dealing with people who have preconceived ideas about how they should be acting after trauma. When the world you live in as a child is full of abuse, you learn coping mechanisms, such as switching off when shit gets real. When people didn't believe her -- because of their own preconceptions -- it was easier for her to go along with what they were saying about her.

[ohheckyeah]

9. Thank you -

I feel for people whose childhood was full of trauma. Makes me want t help I just don't know how.

[KitSileya]

8. The police bullied her and threatened her.

They took minor inconsistencies of her story (which are to be expected of traumatized victims) and used it to bludgeon her verbally to recant her story. They threatened her with the loss of her place of living if she didn't publicly recant. SO she did. Apparently the Lynnwood PD had a habit of doing this to rape victims, according to their "false accusation" statistics.

Her motivation to recant was that she trusted the police when they told her she must have lied because she was too traumatized to remember everything exactly correct, and because she didn't react in the approved hysterical manner to being raped. The police was wrong, and because of this, they didn't investigate a rape committed by a rapist who went on to rape at least 5 other women.

[pnwmom]

12. Her motivation? She was browbeaten and threatened with the loss of her housing. n/t

[justiceischeap]

10. I really think every police dept. no matter how small should have

someone who has been trained properly to deal with rape cases. If they don't, then they should bring in someone from another agency that does (like the State police for example).

It's bad enough that people have to go through being raped but then to have those accusations turned around by the cops into lies... it makes me wonder if rape victims will ever see fair treatment within the justice system.

[pnwmom]

11. Sadly, it's all too believable. And the police response was outrageous.

And those two foster mothers. Ugh.

I hope they've reached the end of their fostering careers. Especially the one who took it upon her busy-body self to phone the police.

[Brickbat]

13. Kicking this; it just won a Pulitzer prize.

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2016/04/18/the-marshall-project-wins-a-pulitzer-prize#.IZ9Gu1Q5c