'Gang rape' victim lied to get pity

'Gang rape' victim lied to get pity

www.smh.com.au

A man behind bars for nearly four years for a gang rape that did not happen has been cleared after his accuser admitted she lied to make her friends feel sorry for her.

William McCaffrey hugged his lawyer after the same New York judge who had sentenced him to 20 years in prison threw out the case and apologised on Thursday.

"I've been waiting for this for a long time," the softly spoken McCaffrey, 32, said outside a Manhattan court.

"I'm just glad it's over."

(visit the link for the full news article)

New DNA tests played a part, but his exoneration hinged largely on his accuser recanting - a rarity after rape convictions, the head of a national prosecutors' group said.

Biurny Peguero, then 22, originally said three men, led by Mr McCaffrey, raped her at knifepoint after luring her into their car after a night out in 2005.

Mr McCaffrey said she had agreed to go with them to a party, and they dropped her off unharmed after she changed her mind.

Peguero told her story to a grand jury, took the stand again at Mr McCaffery's trial and said at his sentencing that the "tragedy changed my life forever".

He was convicted of charges including rape and kidnapping and received a 20-year prison term.

I wonder just how many more innocent people sit in jail cells right now because the purported "victim" lied about it for whatever reason. Yes, this particular case had a good outcome in the end (not counting the 4 years the poor bloke spent behind bars) but how many other cases have the authorities refused to reopen that might possibly turn out to be a lie?

www.fbi.gov...

Estimated Number of Arrests
United States, 2008

Forcible rape 22,584

And that's just the US, let alone the rest of the planet. If even a fraction of those (and don't forget, these are serious charges that receive serious jail terms) are, in fact, not guilty of the charges - thats still a large number of innocent men (and maybe some women) sitting in jail - and for what? Did the law fail them for not triple-checking everything? Or should the blame be placed squarely on the purported "victims" head?

I say a little from Column A, and a little from Column B.

www.smh.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 11/12/2009 by Kryties]

This pisses me of to no end. I know some women are abused, raped, ect. It happens. Yes, but it is deffinately not cool, but it boils my blood that whenever they call the cops they always are made out to be the victem. Not only with rape but a whole lot of other things. From gettint put on child support for a kid thats not even yours to going to jail for four years (and you know what they do to rapists in jail) for rapeing a woman that you went to a party with. Its just not right.

I good friend of mine from highschool, who is in the military, made the mistake of marrying one of these so called "bad apples." Needless to say after he got back from Iraq he had nothing in his home. She even took the silverware. Then she comes crying to his door one night after her new boyfriend beat the crap out of her and tryied to get back with my friend. He says no, she calls the cops and send him to jail for spouse abuse. Now he has no chance of getting his kids (they have 3), he has to pay child support for all of them, and he barely gets to see them at all (supervised visits).

Tell me how that crap is right.

MessOnTheFED!

[edit on 11-12-2009 by MessOnTheFED!]

[edit on 11-12-2009 by MessOnTheFED!]

A lot of men are in prison on trumped-up rape charges. That's why I think proportionately inverse punishment should be the cost of falsely accusing anyone of rape.

Did you read about the young black woman who, a couple of years ago, claimed that she was held captive by three white men and three white women who allegedly tortured and raped her for several days, all the while taunting her with racial epithets?

Rape, Torture, Racial Horror Story in West Virginia

It was a lie. The "victim," one Megan Williams, admits she fabricated the hair-raising story to "get back" at her boyfriend, one of the "attackers"...

West Virginia Horror Victim Recants Story

The people she accused were convicted, got lengthy sentences, and are in prison. Interestingly, the prosecutor on the case still maintains that they're guilty, but that the victim is "no longer credible"!!

This stinks as bad as (or worse than) the Duke University fabricated rape case, in which the "victim" falsely accused several members of the university's lacrosse team of raping her at an off-campus party.

It's too easy to cry rape in this country, and wreck a lot of people's lives in the process.

— Doc Velocity







[edit on 12/11/2009 by Doc Velocity]

Originally posted by Doc Velocity

It's too easy to cry rape in this country, and wreck a lot of people's lives in the process.

It's not just the US, Doc, I have a mate here in Australia who is facing a 10 year jail term because his (now ex) wife got drunk again one night (she already had been ordered by a judge not to drink around her child) and started getting passionate with his best mate in my mate's bed - all this while my poor mate was answering a work call on the back patio. He came in, found them, screamed and yelled a bit, she went ape# on him and started bashing her own head into a chest of drawers - then called the cops and blamed it on him! I know he is not lying about it because the bloke who was getting passionate with his wife rang me a few days after and admitted that she beat herself up but wouldn't tell me where he was and the coppers can't find him.

Unbelievable eh.

[edit on 11/12/2009 by Kryties]

And the worst thing about stories like this?

Hundreds of women (and even men) who HAVE been raped or abused and won't got to police because they are afraid of NOT being believed.

How many lied....6 million?

Originally posted by SerialLurker
And the worst thing about stories like this?

Hundreds of women (and even men) who HAVE been raped or abused and won't got to police because they are afraid of NOT being believed.

You make a good point, nobody is saying those people should not be found and helped, but this topic is about those who HAVE been prosecuted and now sit innocently in jail all because someone else had it in for them.

reply to post by SerialLurker


You are right. But thats not the case here at all. Unless you missed it this thread is about getting falsely charged for rape. Apparently they dont need to be afraid of not being believed.

MessOnTheFED!

Originally posted by Doc Velocity
It's too easy to cry rape in this country, and wreck a lot of people's lives in the process.

Rape is all too real and prevalent. I agree that falsifying an account should hold the same weight in prison time as an actual rapist (both the same thing really) but please don't think it's not already everywhere and mostly unaccounted.

We should look into why people rape so we can stop it from happening so often.

-m0r

i understand where you are coming from kryties.

I just wanted to make light of the flipside - That while some people make up things like this for their own personal gain, others suffer in silence.

While I think the girl is frankly a dirty _____ for knowingly wrongfully accusing the guy of one of the most heinous crimes against another human being, I have to give her some credit for owning up to it. Yes, she was probably young and stupid when she did it and that is NO excuse for ruining someone's life, but ATLEAST she admitted it and this guy now has some shot at a normal life, although this will follow him and his family around forever.




[edit on 11-12-2009 by SerialLurker]

Originally posted by SerialLurker
I have to give her some credit for owning up to it. Yes, she was probably young and stupid when she did it and that is NO excuse for ruining someone's life, but ATLEAST she admitted it and this guy now has some shot at a normal life, although this will follow him and his family around forever.

She admitted it yes, but it took her 4 years to do so. What was she thinking of for 4 years, knowing she had destroyed someones life and she was free to continue hers?

She should face the same jail term that the man was sentenced to.

I have to say I agree with you there.

She should face the repercussions of her actions.

...

edited to add: even if she did feel guilt every day, she was still free to live her life. Being locked into guilt of your own doing and being physically behind bars for doing nothing wrong are different.

[edit on 11-12-2009 by SerialLurker]

Originally posted by SerialLurker
And the worst thing about stories like this?

Hundreds of women (and even men) who HAVE been raped or abused and won't got to police because they are afraid of NOT being believed.

I think the police and investigation squad are to blame in many situations that lead people to make the wrong choices.
This case is not related but for some reason brings to my mind a reminder of how even the victims who call the police for help are not always believed.

Woman sues Ohio sheriff's deputy over 'outrageous' strip search
*video below*
Exclusive: Strip search of woman by Sheriff's Deputies called outrageous
Strip Search 2; Is there video the Sheriff doesn't want you to see?
Fully Nude Female Prisoner Forcibly Strip Searched by Ohio male cops

I'm blaming the police state, that we now live in, for these atrocities.

Oh, yeah, taking rape charges into court is a terrifying ordeal for a victim — as if the physical rape itself wasn't brutal and traumatic enough, the victim must be verbally raped and accused and intimidated by the defense cross-examination.

Make no mistake, the defense tears into the accuser, and rightly so. I mean, the job of the defense is to keep your lilly-white butt out of prison, and they're getting paid to inject doubt into the minds of the jury members.

If the defense can expose a false charge of rape, that is their job.

I know, it's brutal. I've been cross-examined by an aggressive defense attorney (not in a rape case), and that guy is hammering your credibility, he is not your friend.

I wish there was an easier way to expose false charges, and I really feel for the women who won't report a rape because of the legal ordeal, but we've gotta find a way to separate the wheat from the chaff, right.

I mean, we've gotta sit these people down and explain to them: If this is a legitimate case, then the law is going to work to bring justice for you; but if you're falsely accusing the defendant, the STATE is going to prosecute YOU and you could do time in prison.

And make them understand that in as nice a way as possible.

— Doc Velocity

Originally posted by m0r1arty

Originally posted by Doc Velocity
It's too easy to cry rape in this country, and wreck a lot of people's lives in the process.

Rape is all too real and prevalent. I agree that falsifying an account should hold the same weight in prison time as an actual rapist (both the same thing really) but please don't think it's not already everywhere and mostly unaccounted.

We should look into why people rape so we can stop it from happening so often.

-m0r

I have read on many threads in here where people think rape was a just punishment.
there was also a soda commercial that made fun and lite of rape, it took a lot of complaints before it was pulled.
as sick as it may sound i have noticed some people think rape is funny.
Especially if it’s a guy getting gang raped in jail that seem to be exceptionally funny to some people. It’s the classic joke. And just punishment in some peoples mind.
I remember my boss’s wife saying a rape victim wanted it, She stated she would have fought to the death. She had no comprehension that she could be over powered with out being killed. Just plain sick.

Originally posted by m0r1arty
We should look into why people rape so we can stop it from happening so often.

Yes, and we should look into why people murder, steal and lie as well. It’s not as if we have been doing that for the last 6,000 years or so. We have not found an answer yet. Maybe what we need is a congressional committee to look into this and resolve all these issues. They’re sure to come up with an answer! But probably not.

Here’s an answer - and one that you’re likely to find as the most valid of all: We are animals and behave as such. Some will be better and some will be worse but that doesn’t change the fundamental nature of what we are: animals.

When dealing with humankind, hope for the best and expect the worse. But never be amazed when we resort to primitive behavior.
And for all those superior types out there that like to moralize about how they “would never do this or that”. Well, that may be true but that doesn’t mean one of us won’t. It’s far less troubling to the mind when you accept that it will and anticipate and prepare for it. Denying it is delusional and sets you up for further disillusionment. Gee, Santa Claus isn’t real and people lie about other stuff too?! Wow.

Originally posted by m0r1arty
Rape is all too real and prevalent. I agree that falsifying an account should hold the same weight in prison time as an actual rapist (both the same thing really) but please don't think it's not already everywhere and mostly unaccounted.

I never said that rape "wasn't real" or wasn't a problem. Rape is the biggest unreported crime in the country. It crosses the sex divide, as well — there are plenty of male rape victims, and they're even more reticent than the female victims.

I have no illusions about the gravity of the crime of rape and its prevalence in our "civilized" society.

Originally posted by m0r1arty
We should look into why people rape so we can stop it from happening so often.

We rape because we are animals. You can see many examples in nature of rape as an act of territoriality... In fact, mammals are really into homosexual rape as an expression of dominance. The friendly porpoises will gang-rape a male interloper but quick, and, during breeding season, the elephant seal will rape a defeated male as the ultimate show of dominance.

There are other examples, but I think we're going off-topic here.

The thing is, we're more animal than we are God. We act on emotions, we act on impulse, we commit crimes, we rape, we murder... Notice that rape and murder are always the Big Top Two for humanity. They go hand-in-hand.

Where there is war, there is always rape. Which just seems odd to me, personally, but I understand that there is some sexual arousal associated with danger and combat. But I wonder how those two, rape and murder got together?

Probably goes back to our earliest primate ancestors, who were an aggressive and warlike bunch, goes without saying, I think. One group probably raided another group, killed off the males, and immediately impregnated the females.

Standard procedure for us primates spreading our genes.

— Doc Velocity





[edit on 12/11/2009 by Doc Velocity]

Originally posted by Plasma applicator
I have read on many threads in here where people think rape was a just punishment.

Wow. I have not read any threads on ATS that advocated rape as a punishment. Is there another level of ATS that I don't know about?

— Doc Velocity

For lying she should be sent to Afghanistan, where rape isn't even against the law. See how she fairs there. I feel bad for all parties involved! Hard to heal from junk like this :\