Rape investigation hampered by false accusations
We hear the stories in the news almost everyday: a woman or a child raped. But if you think most of the perpetrators are strangers, think again… and not every reported case is legitimate either. Tonight Jacqueline Woods looks at the reporting and investigating of rape, and the increasing problem of women who make false accusations.
Jacqueline Woods
“Several years ago, I was walking on Regent Street and as I passed this alley two men grabbed me. As one of them held his hands around my neck, the other reached for my handbag. I was not raped, but throughout the ordeal, it was very much on my mind and it terrified me. Sadly, some women are victims of this traumatic crime.”
Det. Corporal Carla Reynolds, O.C., Sexual Offence Unit
“We have cases where some of the victims cannot even speak about it, and you have to be with that person maybe for hours before you can get one thing from them. You have to try and calm down that person. You have gain that person’s self confidence, you have to gain that person’s trust and confidentiality. And if you are being raped it’s hard for you to just come and sit and speak about it just like that because it’s not something that you’re proud of.”
Every year around one hundred rape cases are reported to the police Sexual Offence Unit. The unit operates under the Criminal Investigation Branch. According to the officer in charge, Detective Corporal Carla Reynolds, most cases she has investigated over the past eight years reveal that women are forced to have sex against their will by someone they know.
Det. Corporal Carla Reynolds
“Most of the cases are like date rape, you know. They would report people who are friends and they didn’t expect that this person would do this to them.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Rapists may have a myriad of reasons why they commit the crime. And although there is no excuse for the act, the reality is there are sick individuals who live among us, and it’s that reason why the police cautions women to be careful in everything we do.”
Corporal Dehane Williams
“The way how women they dress, we noticed nowadays that they have different kind of styles and what happen is that the style is showing almost eighty-five to ninety percent of the woman’s body.”
“Also, when women go out, they need to go out in groups, you know they have ladies night, so if they have ladies night you don’t go out by yourself or with one person, go out in a group. In a group you could more defend yourself.”
Such was not the case in a recent incident that involved a twenty-one year old female and someone she knew. Following police investigation on December first, authorities arrested thirty-year-old Lucio Martinez and charged him with rape.
But it’s not only older women who are being violated. Children are also sexually molested or carnally known. In these cases, it gets even more disturbing when the young victim is not further protected by the person the child has trusted the most.
Det. Corporal Carla Reynolds
“In the cases of the incest where we have a mother with like six children and this man is the breadwinner of the home, the first thing she will think about is how will my children eat. We have people who ask that question, how will they eat if he goes to jail.”
On the other hand, some men are wrongfully accused and police say they have also become concerned about the number of bogus reports made by both young and older females.
Det. Corporal Carla Reynolds
“I would say more or less seventy-five out of a hundred cases would be genuine.”
The twenty-five questionable cases involve young runaways, and women with multiple partners. Reynolds says they handle all cases seriously, but at the start of any investigation they have a good idea when something is amiss.
Det. Carla Reynolds
“The female has been promised maybe money. Let’s say maybe fifty dollars, and then after whatever happens she was only given maybe twenty dollars and then that person would come to the station and say she was raped…It becomes a concern to us what is happening with the youths why they are coming up with these bogus reports. Maybe they need attention, maybe they are indeed being abused.”
“It takes us back now with work because the time we are wasting with that report that we thought was genuine and turns out to be false, we could have been dealing with something that was actually genuine.”
Reynolds says as horrible as the crime of rape is, and the victim’s need to be cleaned, taking a shower can affect the investigation.
Det. Corporal Carla Reynolds
“The sperm wouldn’t be there, maybe pubic hair that was there wouldn’t be there because we do combing. And they tend to get rid of items that belong to the perpetrator, like maybe if the person would run left a tennis shoe or a slipper, they might just get rid of it. All these things are evidence for us and would make our case very strong.”
The police say if you suspect a child is being physically or sexually abused or you have witnessed a rape, you are advised to contact the Sexual Offence Unit at 227-7489 and ask for extension 119. Jacqueline Woods for News 5.
In a recent address on the situation of HIV and AIDS in the country, Adele Catzim, an independent consultant with the Pan American Health Organization, reported that in a survey that they conducted, victims of sexual violence told them that when they go for a medical examination, they are not tested for any diseases including HIV. Catzim further reported that its amazing that persons who deal with the issue of sexual violence do not make the connection between rape cases and child sexual abuse to STD’s including HIV and AIDS. News 5 did present the situation to Corporal Reynolds, however she told us that she can only speak about the cases she investigates and that victims are tested for sexually transmitted diseases.
