Picture this. You and a young woman you’ve dated a few times before, go out for an evening on the town. You share a delicious dinner, catch a movie, and end the evening at a local pub where you share a few drinks. One things leads to another and she ends up back at your place for the night. But the next morning when you wake up you discover she’s already gathered her belongings and headed home.
It was a good night and you had fun, so you don’t think anything of it. Maybe she had to work and only remembered at the last minute. Or maybe she had an early doctor’s appointment she didn’t tell you about. Either way, you figure you’ll text her later, and thank her for an enjoyable evening. But long before you get a chance to send that message, the cops show up at your door with a warrant for your arrest. Apparently that woman has claimed that you sexually assaulted her! You’re so confused! Who on earth could that be, and what is she talking about?
When someone claims to be raped, everyone listens!
Given the fact that so many women and children’s claims of sexual abuse and assault went unbelieved and ignored for so long, the reactionary pendulum has swung the other way. Now, when someone claims to have been molested or raped, they are automatically given the benefit of the doubt. Failing to believe them, even if there’s no corroborating evidence, gets you the undesirable title of “victim blamer” or “victim shamer” and no one wants that. So the accused are frequently assumed to be guilty.
The problem is, when the only evidence is the victim’s testimony, how can one be sure that this isn’t a chance for the self-proclaimed victim to get attention? Or perhaps to get revenge for some previous slight that left them angry and hurt. And even in cases where there’s evidence of sexual intercourse, that doesn’t automatically mean rape. There may have been consensual sex between the pair, which was then later claimed to have been forced. Our criminal defense team has been on both sides of that argument lots of times.
There are many reasons why someone might claim to be a victim
In our opening story, the female overnight guest might have regretted her choice the morning afterwards, realizing she drank too much and made a choice to have sex that she probably wouldn’t have done if she was completely sober. That might make the sex regrettable, which is entirely legitimate, but not forced. In the same way, if she had felt pressured at the time, but went along with it even although she wasn’t entirely comfortable, if she never said “no” or “stop” or voiced her desire to leave, she can’t expect her partner to read her mind. Sometimes, we’ve seen these accusers have “buyer’s remorse” for their fun filled one-nighter after they sobered up and remembered that they have a husband at home.
As experienced Michigan sex crime defense attorneys, we’ve handled a lot of cases where alleged victims have made claims about rape or sexual assault, that we were later able to disprove. Situations where someone felt pressured but chose not to speak up, or was angry and wanted revenge, or even simply had sex and was sorry about it later. There are lots of reasons, but none of them make it okay to put someone behind bars for decades for crimes they never committed!
False sex crime allegations require the intervention of a skilled defense attorney
At The Kronzek Firm, our experienced sex crime defense attorneys have handled countless sex assault cases over the decades, where people have made false allegations against someone for a variety of reasons, and we were able to protect their reputation and keep them out of prison. Being falsely accused of a sex crime is devastating, but you don’t have to let it ruin your life. When you are ready to hire an aggressive criminal defense attorney, The Kronzek Firm is ready. Call 866 766 5245 (866 7No Jail) and let us protect your future.