I was happy to see that a woman who falsely cried rape – sending her attacker victim to prison for nearly four years – has just been sentenced to 1 – 3 years for perjury. She’ll be eligible for parole in a year. Rape is a terrible crime. It stays with the victim long after the actual attack is over. Lying about it demeans actual rape victims, and further adds to their burden when they try to seek justice – to say nothing of the poor man whose life is destroyed by the accusation.
What’s been done to him is akin to rape. He’s victimized, helpless, abused by his attacker – who, together with the state prosecuting him – hold his very life in their hands. Even if it doesn’t go so far as to send him to prison, his reputation is forever harmed as potential employers and others Google his name and learn of the arrest. And if he goes to prison, he may well be the victim of an actual rape. False rape accusations are as much a life-destroying crime as committing an actual rape. It’s unjust that she was only sentenced for a maximum of three years – even less time than the man she accused actually served.
Why did she do this terrible thing? She got drunk, made her friends angry, and invented the rape to make them feel sorry for her. I made some people angry when I suggested that women should be held more accountable for what they do when they’re drunk. Sending this woman to prison is a good start.
I do agree that it’s at least a decent start. But there are three pretty big problems with the current setup that promote perjury, listed in order of importance:
1) The same prosecutor’s office that utilizes perjurers for its cases is in charge of prosecuting them
2) The statute of limitations is low (in TN, aggravated perjury must be found out within 4 years to be punished; non-aggravated is less than that)
3) Even if the perjurer is punished at all, the potential sentences are pretty low (aggravated perjury is a D felony in TN, non-aggravated an E meaning the lowest kind)
“If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime, the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” (Deuteronomy 19:16-21).