Charges dropped against student accused of false rape claim for fear of 'discouraging other survivors from reporting attacks'
Woman's attorneys say police mishandled her case by investigating her instead of her alleged attacker
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Officials in Kansas have decided to drop charges against a university student accused of falsely reporting rape, fearing that prosecuting the individual would discourage sexual assault victims from reporting their attacks in the future.
The decision by Douglas County district attorney Charles Branson was announced on Monday, when he said that his office would not pursue three felony counts of making a false report against a University of Kansas student.
Mr Branson said that, while his office believes it could win the case, they are hesitant to do so because the “cost to our community and the negative impact on survivors of sexual violence cannot be ignored”, according to the Kansas City Star.
“We are concerned this case, and the significant amount of misinformation surrounding it, could discourage other survivors from reporting their attack. That is unacceptable,” he said.
The case stems from an incident in September 2018, when the woman first spoke to police outside of a Lawrence hospital, where she had gone to undergo a rape examination.
She told police then that she had been raped by a friend of her ex-boyfriend, but that the details were fuzzy because she was drunk at the time of the attack.
The woman then said that she did not want to press charges, but allowed police to take a look at her phone.
After searching through the phone, police interpreted text messages she sent as acknowledging the sex was consensual, according to court records. Mr Branson charged that the rape was fabricated by the woman for revenge, and out of regret.
The woman’s attorneys have argued in court documents that the police decided to investigate the woman instead of her alleged attacker, and that their client had attempted to make light of the situation in text messages because she had not yet admitted to herself what had happened. They argue that their client woke up in a strange bed with no memory of how she got there, and that there were unexplained bruises on her legs, neck and arms.
The woman’s legal fees were covered in part by the Times Up Legal Defense Fund, which was founded by celebrities during the #MeToo movement.
Mr Branson has said that he plans to update police guidelines for investigating sexually violent crimes, in order to provide multiple options for “survivors to report crimes on their terms”.
A felony false reporting charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 23 months in prison in Kansas.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments