We have often discussed controversies involving false rape allegations and the resulting punishment for such crimes. 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). One case of jail time came be found this week in England where Wendy Willson, 62, alleged that she had been raped and caused an intensive investigation. Later the police determined that the allegation was made for financial gain. She received six months in jail.
Willson falsely claimed that she was raped, beaten and robbed by two men with Eastern European accents. She later filed a £6,000 insurance claim for items stolen by the rapists. Yet, she never mentioned the stolen items to the police. That and inconsistencies led police to conclude that no rape occurred. By that time, 76 officers had worked 2,244 hours on the rape inquiry between December 2013 and May 2014 at a cost of over £70,000.
She claimed that the men spoke with eastern European accents when they broke into her home three days before Christmas in Norfolk. She said that they threatened her with a knife, hit her with a metal bar and punched her in the head. She said that she was knocked unconscious when she fell back and hit a kitchen item.
Judge Antony Bate correctly reminded her of the worse cost since “while officers were investigating your bogus claims they can’t be investigating other people’s genuine concerns. It diverted them away from much more important lines of inquiry.” That included, of course, real rape victims.
Note that the harshness of this sentence flowed from her efforts of fraud and manipulating the police record.
It is not so true when the woman merely just does it for kicks, or personal problems – there they usually give a slap on the wrist, and of course ignore the real victim’s devastation in society and personal effects.
If someone is proven to have actually fabricated a rape allegation, rather than cases that fall apart due to lack of evidence, then the punishment should be sufficient to be considered a deterrent. In addition, a false allegation can completely ruin an innocent man’s life – forever. It can cost him his education, jobs, derail his career, make him a dating pariah… The list just goes on. Those men are innocent victims in this and also deserve justice.
In this case, at least she did not name anyone. But there could have been Eastern European men brought in for questioning that would have been harmed by such a drag net. In addition, to think of all those law enforcement hours wasted when there are backlogs of actual sexual assault and other crimes left to be solved.
What a thoughtless crime.
This makes me so angry because I have known women who suffered from sexual assault. Visited one in the hospital. This is a slap in the face to all those women who actually are rape victims. Bravo England for sending her to jail.
Elmer and Lars: Sorry, but I’m not impressed with your sixth-grade humor based on someone’s appearance. You both probably need to take a good look in the mirror and embrace the horror.
I think it unfair to call her a dog. She is ugly. So when she made the complaint there must have been some skepticism. The rapist was blind and had just come from that conference of blind guys in Berlin. He was drunk and thought he had a mule.
The punishment should fit the crime. But there are few rapists on Earth who would agree to rape her because she is so ugly. A large fee would have to be put up. Perhaps pass the plate around the police department and round up say two thousand dollars and then go to the prison and seek out an accomplished rapist. Put him into her cell and see what happens. She would probably agree to a consent pork if he turned over some of the money. Then the judge could let her go and society would spend less money on what it costs for her jail time. Both she and the rapist would be happy. But would justice be served? I think not. No, she needs to be pistol whipped.
What would her rapist has suffered? She should get the same jail time.