After a woman alleged that she was raped by two men, multiple investigations were launched. Eventually, it was determined that the accusations were false. A judge has since decided her fate in the case. Was it enough?
Cathy Richardson, a 35-year-old woman, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice after it was determined that she made ten false rape claims against two men, triggering 60 lines of investigation, Metro reported. It all started when the British woman made a series of criminal complaints between January and May 2021, accusing two men of rape. Although Richardson was initially believed, things soon didn’t add up.
Richardson’s allegations led to police in the UK launching dozens of investigations with one of the men being arrested and subjected to a forensic examination. In addition, CCTV surveillance camera video, mobile phone data, and information from automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras were analyzed. That’s when things started to fall apart for Richardson as the evidence proved the alleged attacker was not in the area at the time Richardson claimed the assaults took place. The allegations continued to crumble from there.
Desperate to prove his innocence, one of the men Richardson accused agreed to be tracked by the police. “One of the men even agreed to have a GPS tracking tag fitted to his ankle which would send an alarm to police if it was destroyed or taken off,” the Essex Police Department stated, according to The Blaze. “On a number of occasions, data from the tag was analyzed and showed he was not in the area when Richardson said the attack had taken place.”
According to reports, both men were able to provide evidence that they were not anywhere near the alleged crime scenes where the Essex woman claimed the sexual assaults took place. Authorities soon came to the conclusion that the alleged assaults never occurred when or where she claimed. Following that determination, Cathy Richardson was arrested and charged with perverting the course of justice.
Following her arrest, Richardson admitted to 10 counts of fabricating sexual assaults at Salisbury Crown Court. After the troubling admission, Richardson was slammed by Essex Police for perverting the course of justice, wasting their time, and doing a “disservice” to real victims of sexual crimes.
“Whenever an allegation of rape or sexual assault comes to us, our starting point is to believe the person making that claim. They are awful offenses and have a massive impact on those who’ve experienced them, and we have specialist officers and staff who support them and investigate,” said Essex Police detective inspector James Holmes. “To begin with, Cathy Richardson’s claims were no different, and we carried out our inquiries with compassion and empathy,” Holmes, who led the investigation, continued.
“However, it quickly became clear the allegations Richardson had made were not what they seemed. Her claims do a great disservice to victims of rape and sexual assault who need our help and support,” Holmes noted, adding that the rape allegations also had a “huge impact on the lives of the two men she accused,” as he went on to slam Richardson for the negative impact her accusations had on many, including authorities.
“Her allegations led to a significant number of investigations which for our officers, taking up a huge number of time and resources which we would have preferred to have directed towards helping genuine victims who really do need us,” Holmes explained. The detective concluded by expressing concern for real victims, saying he hoped that the fake rape accusations do not hurt future sexual assault victims from coming forward to authorities.
“I sincerely hope this case does not put off victims of rape and sexual assault, who really need our help, from reporting offenses to us,” Holmes said. “I want to reassure you that you will be believed, we will support you, and we will investigate what has happened,” he concluded. Indeed, much harm is done when someone files false reports, alleging crimes where none occurred. So, what’s the appropriate punishment for such an offense? According to the UK court, the answer to that question is jail.
After admitting to 10 counts in Salisbury Crown Court, the woman who falsely claimed to be a sexual assault victim was going to jail after the rape accusations turned out to be false, according to police. Cathy Richardson was sentenced to five years and one month in prison. Is that enough to dissuade others who might consider making false allegations? You decide.
