Posted on 04/10/2008 4:13:59 PM PDT by PercivalWalks
"Review of statements and video surveillance vindicated students accused of assaulting a 13-year-old student at Athens Middle School, said Athens Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Fred Hayes. The female student will be charged by Athens District Police for making a false report, he said.
"'It's disappointing that we have an issue like this going on,' he said. 'It's certainly disappointing when a student lies, anytime.'
"The incident began as part of a history class assignment on Friday. She and the other students were asked to create 'protest signs' dealing with current and past topics.
'If you love your nation, stop illegal immigration,' her sign read. She claimed a group of 21 students, many of them Hispanic, assaulted her by pushing her into a brick wall and scraping her face down the wall, and that males in the group attempted to drag her into the bathroom while telling her they would rape and kill her.
"Hayes said, while he is disappointed that she will be charged for filing a false report, he is relieved that an assault like the one she described did not occur on campus. He said questions about the validity of her claim were raised earlier in the investigation because of conflicting stories, but that video from inside the school provided the most important evidence in the case....
"He said the female student can be seen in the hallway walking down the hallway with a sign from her history class in her hands as if she was displaying it. Hayes said a male student approached her from behind and took the sign away from her and ran, ducking into the gymnasium and away from her. Moments later, she walked by several teachers and never indicated to them that she was under duress, the video showed.
"Hayes said she then approached Assistant Principal Mark Castleberry and told him someone had taken her assignment away from her. He told her to go to class and that the matter would be investigated later, Hayes said. Videotape then shows the female student scratching her arm and neck area, wounds she would later claim were inflicted by a group of attackers."
Readers send me stories of false rape claims every day--false claims are common--but this one was particularly disturbing. Many rape cases are "he said/she said" issues, so when the woman has witnesses or outside corroboration for her claims, her claims are understandably given much more legitimacy.
In this case, a false accuser had four separate friends corroborate her lie. The accused were saved only by the fact that there was a videotape of the (non) incident. The tape even showed the false accuser inflicting on herself the injuries she claimed male assailants caused.
I also can't help but notice the racial component here. In an era when Latino immigrants are often blamed and scapegoated, the girl claimed that when she held up a sign saying "If you love your nation, stop illegal immigration," a group of Latino students assaulted her and "attempted to drag her into the bathroom while telling her they would rape and kill her." I guess she thought they would be an easy target, since they had the double disadvantage of being male and Latino.
I also love the school Superintendent's comment that "he is disappointed that she will be charged for filing a false report." Why would he be "disappointed"?
The full story is Video Shows No Evidence Of Attack On Student--thanks to Tim, a reader, for sending it.
[Note: If you or someone you love is faced with a divorce or needs help with child custody, child support, false accusations, Parental Alienation, or other family law or criminal law matters, ask Glenn for help by clicking here.]
Glenn Sacks, www.GlennSacks.com
This is an attempt to discredit anti-illegals
If it happened the way the article reads, the girl sounds like an attention starved brat.
Clicking the top link to the Glenn Sacks site does not display this article. Instead I get the message “Sorry, no posts matched your criteria.”
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