Magdalena Brojek, a mother of two from Enniskillen, Ireland, has been sentenced to three months in jail after admitting that she made up a gang rape by three Lithuanian men to cover up an affair with a man who she met online. It was only the first lie that she told before admitting the truth.
Brojek, 33, pleaded guilty to making a false report. The rape allegation quickly unraveled when a taxi driver was questioned about picking up Brojek and hearing her account of going to meet a man who she met on a social media site. She ended up spending the night and coming home to a curious husband. The police also failed to see the men on CCTV cameras at the locations described by Brojek. She also refused to turn over underwear worn during the attack. Bizarrely, she picked Lithuanians as the culprits. It is not clear how she knew they were Lithuanian or whether she considered how the specificity would make the story less credible.
When pressed on details, Brojek then admitted that she lied about the three Lithuanians but then lied again that she did meet an Irish stranger at his apartment and that she dragged him from a bathroom and raped her. Police then interviewed the man and found an email from the woman telling him “Don’t tell police I was there.” Medical examinations of the accused showed no evidence of any injuries. Brojek refused to give police officers her mobile phone, but it was later seized as part of investigations where text messages sent between the defendant and the alleged rapist were discovered. The messages were sent on July 23 and into the next morning, the day she claimed she was raped. More text messages were sent on July 26 which said: “Did you like the other night?” A physical examination found no evidence of injuries. She then admitted to the hoax.
What is most striking about the sentence is that it stands in contrast with some rape hoax cases where no punishment is meted out. I have previously discussed the pattern of prosecutors in either not charging false rape victims or seeking relatively light sentences despite the incarceration of innocent men. (here, here, here, here, here, and here).
Perhaps the most infamous refusal to charge such a case involved Crystal Gale Mangum, 33, the stripper who falsely accused members of the Duke lacrosse team. She became a national celebrity as activists warned that anything but long criminal sentences would be proof of racism by the prosecutors. Durham D.A. Mike Nifong joined this lynch mob atmosphere despite the absence of forensic evidence to support the claim of rape. When he was removed and the lie was exposed however North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper refused to prosecute Mangum, who ruined the lives of these students and triggered racial tensions in the region. Cooper simply let her walk in a disgraceful but politically expedient decision.
However, it is the second lie that in my view warrants the greater punishment. While making up three Lithuanians might have not been likely to snare suspects, the second lie identified a man who could well have gone to jail.
Source: Fermanagh Herald
Three months doesn’t seem like a particularly harsh sentence given the seriousness of the crimes she alleged and the fundamental harm such false accusations cause to our justice system.
The report says the couple are separated.
A follow-up story would be to report on the state of the marriage following this sequence of events.
She lied to her husband who reported the “rape” to police. She didn’t ‘fess up immediately. Good police work and a fair adjudication.
Now;
If we could just do the same to Rove, alleged victim A & W; and the bogus attorney (former State person who helped kidnap and torture 2 of his own natural citizens in Eygpt) who are part of the plot to nab Assange!
Laser – who the heck are you talking about?
Oh, mother or motion of two not three and the person is from Ireland. They probably paid her to leave the country for the same or similar behavior. Send her back to Ireland with the salute: Top of the morning to ya. Damn itchBay.
She was a “motion of three”? Probably a mother of three. Which has relevance because she was not a virgin. As to prosecution and punishment: 1) Begin with the psych exam and question her psych history; 2) Lock her up if she is wacko; 3) Prosecute her for each crime and give her the full measure of sentence in prison; 4) Put the children in good care. If she is not a citizen then send her back to Lithiwania or where ever she hails from. And send her a Hail Mary Full of Grace and God Be With You. Damn itchBay.
Yes, they should be harshly punished when innocent men go to jail. It can ruin their lives. I remember a football player who was supposed to be a shoe-in for a college team, and then pro. His life was going to be roses and she ruined it all. And it undermines the credibility of real rape victims.
It does more harm to a man’s reputation and future chances in life when he is falsely accused of rape compared to, say, falsely accused of auto theft.
Of course false reports to police should be punished. Because it’s a rape allegation doesn’t make it any less punishable.
Good to see awareness of the inequity of successful false rape accusations against the man who suffers from them, vs the almost free pass most women get if they are ever caught making them.
Turley is not kowtowing to radfem pressure, like most pundits today.
“The bodies of 796 children, between the ages of two days and nine years old, have been found in a disused sewage tank in Tuam, County Galway. They died between 1925 and 1961 in a mother and baby home under the care of the Bon Secours nuns.
…
For those of you unfamiliar with how, until the 1990s, Ireland dealt with unmarried mothers and their children, here it is: the women were incarcerated in state-funded, church-run institutions called mother and baby homes or Magdalene asylums, where they worked to atone for their sins. Their children were taken from them.
According to Corless, death rates for children in the Tuam mother and baby home, and in similar institutions, were four to five times that of the general population. A health board report from 1944 on the Tuam home describes emaciated, potbellied children, mentally unwell mothers and appalling overcrowding. But, as Corless points out, this was no different to other homes in Ireland. They all had the same mentality: that these women and children should be punished.” (Guardian).
Paul, That was my point.
Just like anyone who lies to police or court officials, the liar should be punished.
Much of how law operates is pendulum like. Swinging one way and then the other. I started working rape cases when the pendulum was against victims. They were victimized twice back in the 70’s. The pendulum swung rather quickly the other way, granting alleged victims virtual diplomatic immunity. I have seen the pendulum beginning to swing back toward the middle, where it should be.
Nick – the reason the pendulum was against the ‘victims’ was because of fake rape allegations. It put everyone woman who cried rape on the hot seat.
Fake rape allegations should be prosecuted.
There are a number of Eastern Europeans working for companies in Ireland. That may be why she picked on the Lithuanians. Maybe if more women who make false charges of rape are convicted, there would be fewer false charges.
This is a start.