I Was Falsely Accused Of Rape: ‘Victim-Centered Investigations’ Are A Travesty Of Justice

Article here. Excerpt:

'I was in the middle of my summer class when my phone went off around 11:40 am on Thursday, July 18th, 2013. It was my ex-girlfriend. As I answered, I heard her voice insisting that I admit to perpetrating an incident of sexual misconduct against her. I was puzzled by her request and did not know how to respond.

A few minutes later I received a call from Darrin DeCoster, a Fairfax County, Virginia detective, who revealed the phone call was being recorded. Ordering me to not hang up, he threatened to arrest me on a “slew” of charges if I did not cooperate. As a 20-year-old in college, I was scared beyond imagination.

I was instructed to appear for an interview the next day at the Fairfax County Police Station. Since I was completely innocent, what did I have to fear? I assumed the police would conduct an unbiased investigation of the matter. That was before I heard about “victim-centered” investigations.

The interrogation consisted of repeated attempts to get me to confess to something that I had supposedly done. The detective hinted that the charge had something to do with sexual assault, but he refused to tell me any details. He said that he could work out a deal with me and convince the district attorney to reduce the punishment.'