Judge issues ruling in false rape case -- no jail time for false accuser

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'A local woman will avoid a felony charge — and what could have been a prison sentence — after she filed a false rape report with the Michigan State Police.

Mikayla Lynn Zachman-Clark, 22, of Traverse City, last week was sentenced to time served with no fines or costs after she earlier this month pleaded guilty to the false report of a misdemeanor. A prior charge of falsely reporting a felony was subsequently dismissed as a part of a plea deal, records state.

“I don’t even remember reporting it at all,” Zachman-Clark said previously.

Zachman-Clark in July 2016 told troopers she was raped by a man near the TART Trail in downtown Traverse City. Subsequent DNA testing later cleared the suspect but Clark claimed to have no memory of the incident when again contacted by troopers with the results, court records state.

Falsely reporting a felony — like rape — is a felony in itself, under Michigan state law. Zachman-Clark’s initial charges could have landed in her in prison for up to four years. Her reduced charge carried a maximum sentence of up to 93 days in jail.