# False accusations of rape molestation etc (the few actual cases) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 3, 2014, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955 "2014-06-03T19:39:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/21 "2014-06-03T23:21:56Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > See, what you sound like to me is a third grader who’s gotten in trouble because someone said he kicked her at lunch, and he emphatically denies he kicked her–false accusation!–and it takes me like half an hour to winkle out of him the admission that he stuck his foot out as she ran forward and she ran into his foot, and it was on purpose. > > Okay, so you didn’t hit your mom’s husband. But you talked shit to her to the point that he tried to get you to stop, and you cussed at him and mocked him. When you pointed at him, did your hand make any sort of contact with his body? With his clothes? > > This gets back to the OP. Often, even if an allegation is false to the extent that a courtroom charge is unsupportable, it’s only because the assault didn’t technically fall within the legal definition: the accused was still acting (checks the forum) in a socially unacceptable fashion. If the “false accusation” is due to the victim’s faulty memory of exactly what happened, I can’t say that I’m too terribly upset at the victim. ok well thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/22 "2014-06-03T23:35:52Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > ok well thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. Glad to! Any time you want honest feedback, just post in a public message forum! ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/23 "2014-06-03T23:41:07Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Glad to! Any time you want honest feedback, just post in a public message forum! are you being serious? really, are you? because implying that I laid my hands on my step father doesn’t seem to be very honest. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/24 "2014-06-03T23:46:45Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > are you being serious? really, are you? because implying that I laid my hands on my step father doesn’t seem to be very honest. I don’t know what you did. The weird part is his claim that you hit him, and I’m trying to figure out why he’d make that claim. Again: did your clothing or body touch his clothing or body at any time during this argument, such that he might have interpreted it as being hit? ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/25 "2014-06-03T23:48:47Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I don’t know what you did. The weird part is his claim that you hit him, and I’m trying to figure out why he’d make that claim. Again: did your clothing or body touch his clothing or body at any time during this argument, such that he might have interpreted it as being hit? it sounds like you definitely think i did. but just so you can’t say i am evading you, no, i did not. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/26 "2014-06-03T23:54:12Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > it sounds like you definitely think i did. but just so you can’t say i am evading you, no, i did not. No, I don’t think you did. But I think that you’re woefully misreading the situation here, and instead of suggesting that false accusations are a real problem, it suggests that often the person being falsely accused needs to man up and take responsibility for what he really DID do. I mean, your version of events is that your mom nearly disowned you. It turns out that she’s mentally ill, and you were shouting at the mentally ill person who’s your mom, and when her elderly husband tried to defend her from this totally inappropriate behavior you became verbally abusive to him, and I guess he accused you of punching him which is still weird, and instead of being deeply apologetic for your totally inappropriate behavior to both the mentally ill woman and her elderly husband you’ve been nursing a grudge for years toward both of them, to the extent that when your mom **might have cancer** and is trying to reach out to her you refuse to reciprocate the gesture–and we’re supposed to look at this scenario and feel sorry for the poor victim of a false accusation of punching? Nope. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/27 "2014-06-03T23:59:50Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > No, I don’t think you did. But I think that you’re woefully misreading the situation here, and instead of suggesting that false accusations are a real problem, it suggests that often the person being falsely accused needs to man up and take responsibility for what he really DID do. > > I mean, your version of events is that your mom nearly disowned you. It turns out that she’s mentally ill, and you were shouting at the mentally ill person who’s your mom, and when her elderly husband tried to defend her from this totally inappropriate behavior you became verbally abusive to him, and I guess he accused you of punching him which is still weird, and instead of being deeply apologetic for your totally inappropriate behavior to both the mentally ill woman and her elderly husband you’ve been nursing a grudge for years toward both of them, to the extent that when your mom **might have cancer** and is trying to reach out to her you refuse to reciprocate the gesture–and we’re supposed to look at this scenario and feel sorry for the poor victim of a false accusation of punching? > > Nope. wow they both treat me like dirt my whole life and i have one afternoon where i cuss and yell and you are giving me this big lecture about how inappropriate i am. well actually me an my mom have cussed and yelled at each other our who life but up until that point i had been sarcastic to my stepfather but never rude like i was that afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/28 "2014-06-04T00:08:16Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > when your mom **might have cancer** and is trying to reach out to her you refuse to reciprocate the gesture you know, if it were me, and i heard that someone’s mom had test for cancer and it caused them no concern, i’d ask what the hell did the mom do to alienate her own flesh and blood to such an extent. because that makes a lot more sense than assuming someone dislikes their mom for no reason. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/29 "2014-06-04T00:51:22Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > you know, if it were me, and i heard that someone’s mom had test for cancer and it caused them no concern, i’d ask what the hell did the mom do to alienate her own flesh and blood to such an extent. because that makes a lot more sense than assuming someone dislikes their mom for no reason. Given that the thread is about false accusations, I figured it was the false accusation that was at the heart of things here, and it seemed to me to be mighty triflin to be focusing on that. If the thread is about something else, my apologies for misreading. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/30 "2014-06-04T01:05:06Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Given that the thread is about false accusations, I figured it was the false accusation that was at the heart of things here, and it seemed to me to be mighty triflin to be focusing on that. If the thread is about something else, my apologies for misreading. are you serious? you are the one who wanted to play 20 questions to “ascertain” if i touched my SF or his clothing. you are the one who presumes to lecture me about my inappropriateness for an event you were not even present too, you are the one to make comments, you are the one who said after hearing that my mom had a test for cancer that i refused her gesture to re conciliate. well, my sister told me about the test after it was done and i have never ignored my mom even now. i dont always respond to every thing she does but i do still talk to her. i just don’t put much investment in a relationship with her. you are the one who mentioned all of that. so the “misreading” here is all on your part. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/31 "2014-06-04T01:15:36Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > are you serious? you are the one who wanted to play 20 questions to “ascertain” if i touched my SF or his clothing. Again: your example of a false accusation is ludicrous. If you don’t want to debate that example of a false accusation, you shouldn’t have put it in your OP. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/32 "2014-06-04T02:06:32Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > The article cites a study by the DOJ. Which respectfully you seem to have drawn some questionable conclusions from. From your link. > [@](#): > > The passage that riveted my attention was a quote from Peter Neufeld and Barry C. Scheck, prominent criminal attorneys and co-founders of the Innocence Project that seeks to release those falsely imprisoned. > > They stated, **"Every year since 1989, in about 25 percent of the sexual assault cases referred to the FBI where results could be obtained, the primary suspect has been excluded by forensic DNA testing.** Specifically, FBI officials report that out of roughly 10,000 sexual assault cases since 1989, about 2,000 tests have been inconclusive, about 2,000 tests have excluded the primary suspect, and about 6,000 have “matched” or included the primary suspect." > > The authors continued, “these percentages have remained constant for 7 years, and the National Institute of Justice’s informal survey of private laboratories reveals a strikingly similar 26 percent exclusion rate.” You’ll notice that nowhere in there do Scheck and Neufeld claim that 25% of all people who were accused by an alleged rape victim were cleared. Instead, they say the “primary suspect” was cleared and that these were only cases referred to the FBI. The author of the Op-Ed simply jumps to the conclusion that they were falsely accused by the victim, which is hardly clear from the study. Those convicted in the Central Park jogging case weren’t falsely accused by the victim, because she doesn’t even remember it and couldn’t accuse anyone. That’s a huge difference from someone deliberately falsely accusing someone or even mistakenly falsely accusing someone. Moreover, it would only be the grayest, least secure of cases that would be referred to the FBI and so the cases referred to by Scheck and Neufeld can hardly be considered representative if you exclude all the slam dunks or where people plead guilty right away. I think you jumped to conclusions. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/33 "2014-06-04T02:09:43Z")
Anyway to the OP, Look, I don’t want to minimize the fact that innocent people can be falsely accused, but people wind up being falsely accused of all crimes, not just rape. The answer to the OP is that hopefully, as with people falsely accused of murder, robbery and other crimes, you would be able to clear your name. I know it sounds cold, but the fact is that no system designed by humans is going to be perfect and no matter where you go people will be falsely accused of crimes they didn’t commit and sometimes convicted of crimes they didn’t commit. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/34 "2014-06-04T02:23:49Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Again: your example of a false accusation is ludicrous. who made you expert on the subject to label it so? > [@](#): > > If you don’t want to debate that example of a false accusation, you shouldn’t have put it in your OP. There is nothing to debate. They said I hit him. I didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/35 "2014-06-04T02:24:51Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Anyway to the OP, > > Look, I don’t want to minimize the fact that innocent people can be falsely accused, but people wind up being falsely accused of all crimes, not just rape. > > The answer to the OP is that hopefully, as with people falsely accused of murder, robbery and other crimes, you would be able to clear your name. > > I know it sounds cold, but the fact is that no system designed by humans is going to be perfect and no matter where you go people will be falsely accused of crimes they didn’t commit and sometimes convicted of crimes they didn’t commit. yes but some accusations are easier to live down than others, that is my point ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/36 "2014-06-04T03:38:02Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > There is nothing to debate. They said I hit him. I didn’t. That means there are three people who know what happened. The rest of us are going to debate over who is more credible (assuming we take a position on the issue at all). ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/37 "2014-06-04T11:16:54Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > who made you expert on the subject to label it so? I completed my dissertation on labelling false accusations ludicrous at Princeton in 2012. Which is a good thing, because how else could I possibly have an opinion on the subject? Certainly I couldn’t have one from just reading your OP and your follow-up posts and forming an opinion based on what you’ve said. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/38 "2014-06-04T13:59:35Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Once? No. As a regular or accelerating thing? Not disowned, but that’s not what you’re talking about, really. Disowned is writing someone out of your will. That’s _disinherited_. Disowned is a [more general term](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disown) meaning to deny any connection to something (or someone.) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/39 "2014-06-04T14:17:47Z")
I think it means a member of the OP’s team was caught or killed. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955/40 "2014-06-04T16:27:36Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > That’s _disinherited_. Disowned is a [more general term](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disown) meaning to deny any connection to something (or someone.) Ah. Thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-accusations-of-rape-molestation-etc-the-few-actual-cases/689955.md?page=3)