A 20-year-old female told police she was gang-raped Friday
morning, but recanted her story Tuesday morning, police said.
Gilroy – A 20-year-old female told police she was gang-raped Friday morning, but recanted her story Tuesday morning, police said.
The complainant had said she was raped by three acquaintances in a house on Ponderosa Drive after attending a party, according to a Gilroy Police Department incident report.
However, the woman later said the story was not true and dropped the complaint, police public information officer Sgt. Jim Gillio said.
“The investigation is closed at the complaining party’s request,” he said.
The case will not be referred to the district attorney’s office because the report turned out to be unfounded, Gillio said. While it is a possibility that police could file charges against the woman for filing a false report, it is unlikely because it the false report has not caused any harm.
“This hasn’t caused anybody any sort of inconvenience,” he said. “A suspect hasn’t been arrested, a suspect hasn’t been contacted.”
At no point during the investigation did police believe the incident to be related to the four sexual assaults reported in the spring. The conditions surrounding the recent supposed rape were completely different, Gillio said.
Even when a complainant recants her original story, the incident should not be entirely dismissed, said Lisa DeSilva, director of development for Community Solutions, a Morgan Hill-based nonprofit that provides services to rape and domestic violence victims.
“Sexual assaults are very complicated crimes,” she said. Just because a person recants a rape complaint “doesn’t necessarily mean that they weren’t telling the truth to begin with. It’s maybe not wanting to go through with the process because it’s long and difficult. Sometimes, if the response to the survivor is more condemning or judging, then that gives them pause.”
Police are aware of the pressures that surround rape victims and try to accommodate victims, Gillio said.
“Because of the phenomenon of the stress of these types of investigations, if the victim came back tomorrow … we would ultimately reopen the investigation,” he said. “It’s a very stressful and traumatic situation and we need to be cognizant of that.”
