Inspired by the thread “My Friend’s Friend Claims She was Raped”. The OP title makes it pretty clear-- the poster didn’t hear anything from the alleged victim, but from someone the victim confided in. Virtually all the advice is telling the poster to call the authorities.
My inclination is to disagree with this, that the OP would simply be reporting rumors, and doesn’t even have a chance to form an opinion on the sincerity of the victim’s story. But a couple factors of argue against my own inclinations. One is that all parties (except the alleged perpetrator) are minors, and kids do tend to have poor judgement about involving authority figures is issues where they are really needed. And I also wonder, what if this was about allegations of some future acts, like schoolyard rumors about a kid who plans to bring a gun to school and shoot up the teachers and students who done him wrong.
So I’ve come to the conclusion that my first inclinations are wrong, and the advice to tell a responsible adult is reasonable.
Which leads to the present question.
What if the OP were:
“My Friend’s Friend’s Friend Claims She was Raped” or
“My Friend’s Friend’s Friend’s Friend Claims She was Raped”?
How far removed do you have to be from an allegation before you should not report it?