Man Freed From Prison for False Rape Accusation

	posted by Scott on Monday December 17, @08:28AM from the false-accusations dept.
	This story from the UK Times reports that a man has been freed after serving nine years in prison for the rape of a young girl. The girl admitted that she made up the accusation to get the attention of her mother, and at age 14, finally recanted the story to have the man freed.

	Source: The Times [UK newspaper] Title: Prisoner cleared after girl admits rape lie Author: Laura Peek Date: December 15, 2001

<  Salt Lake Tribune Reports on Male Rape in Prison | Ask MANN: Why do Women Make False Rape Accusations?  >

  

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When minors falsely accuse (Score:1) by Claire4Liberty on Monday December 17, @01:32PM EST (#1) (User #239 Info) I brought this up on a Law board once, but the thread didn't attract any attention. I think most people will agree that when an adult woman wilfully and falsely accuses a man of rape, she should be severely punished. But what should happen in cases like this, when the false accuser is a child? Since this girl committed an adult crime, should she be tried as an adult, and serve adult time? Before answering, keep in mind that there is now a very strong trend to try minors as adults for other serious crimes such as murder. I'd be interested in hearing everyone's thoughts on this.

Re:When minors falsely accuse (Score:0) by Anonymous User on Monday December 17, @05:13PM EST (#2) Claire: To me it would depend partly on her age when she made the accusations. Did she have the capacity to understand right and wrong? Was she able to think abstractly? And also, what interest of hers, if any, was served by making this charge? I think you could determine her ability to abstract from the court testimoney at the time the rape was charged. Also, did she skip a grade or two? Was she considered mature for her age? Should it be found that she was able to understand that what she was doing was wrong, and in addition, premeditated the act, I would try her teenybopper ass as an adult, and not hesitate to put her in the slammer * a safe, minimum security one* for the same amount of time the man served. After all, she has alot more of her life left then he does -- esp. considering women live longer. Remo

Re:When minors falsely accuse (Score:0) by Anonymous User on Tuesday December 18, @01:18PM EST (#3) This issue of false rape accusations touches on another issue which has long bothered me. There is a double standard when it comes to releasing the identities of those involved in a rape accusation. The women's identity is strictly protected while a man's identity is flashed across the evening news as soon as an accusation is made. When an accusation is proven to be false or even in the case of mistaken identity, little is done to rehabilitate the man's reputation. A woman making a rape accusation should have to make a choice. Either release the identity of all involved or protect the identity of all involved. I understand the need to protect a woman's identity in such cases but the need is just as strong to protect the identity of the accused.

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