Eight months! Two adult men in their 30s spent eight months -- that's equivalent to a date from last September to now -- behind bars for a crime they did not commit. And every day they faced the prospect of being locked up for much, much longer.
All because an 18-year-old woman decided she would lie to grand jury about them -- and she did it not once but four times.
If convicted, she could serve up to 56 years for her lies.
The two innocent men missed time from their families that can never be made up. They suffered incalculable stress for which no compensation can make them whole. Their harm can never, ever be undone.
The fact that two adult males could be jailed with bond set at $150,000 on the say-so of a teenager is our judicial system's great shame.
Prosecutor Mark Williams is correct when he says "no one should have to spend any time in jail if they are innocent." That is a truth beyond dispute. Yet false rape case after false rape case after false rape case show that prosecutors really don't practice that.
Mr. Williams also said "we don't take these things lightly." Again, many, many prosecutors do take them lightly. They are rarely prosecuted.
Many false rape cases end with the liar serving less jail time than her victims -- is there any other crime where that can be said? I can't think of any. And that, ladies and gentlemen, tells us everything we need to know about our false rape culture, where falsely accused men are treated as flotsam, unfortunate but necessary collateral damage in the "more important" war on rape.
Let's follow this one closely -- this could be a poster child case for our cause if this young woman is convicted and doesn't receive substantial jail time -- far more than these men served.
This case, and others like it, is the reason we have this Web site.
HERE ARE TWO NEWS STORIES ON THIS TRAGEDY:
Kirksville woman indicted for making false rape claims
KIRKSVILLE — A Kirksville woman is facing eight counts of perjury stemming from rape allegations that resulted in two innocent men spending eight months in jail.
According to Adair County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Williams, Earlene Rogers, 18, was charged with lying to a grand jury four times over two separate depositions.
Last year, Rogers allegedly accused Glen Johnson, 35, and Timothy Rogers, 30, of rape and forcible sodomy.
The men, with bonds of $150,000, spent eight months in jail before they were released in February of this year.
Earlene Rogers is currently being held at the Adair County Jail on a $25,000 cash-only bond.
Johnson, a father of two, said he feels cheated by the time he lost with his children.
“I lost eight months of my life,” he said. “That’s eight months away from my kids. We missed a lot of holidays and functions we will never get back.”
Rogers was expected to be arraigned this week, but no attorney had been named to represent her.
If she chooses a private attorney to represent her, the arraignment date will be June 1. If one is appointed by the state, the date will be postponed until June 2.
Johnson is just hoping justice will be served.
“I just want to let the court system do its thing,” he said. “A person shouldn’t technically be able to lie and get away with it.”
Link: http://www.kirksvilledailyexpress.com/news/x702304644/Kirksville-woman-indicted-for-making-false-rape-claims
Local woman charged with perjury
KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- A Kirksville woman is behind bars accused of lying under oath.
Earlene Rogers, 18, was indicted by a grand jury on eight counts of perjury. She's currently being held in the Adair County Jail on $25,000 cash only bond.
The charges are in connection with an incident in which she accused Kirksville residents Glen Johnson and Timothy Rogers of raping and sodomizing her last year. Earlene Rogers withdrew the allegations against the men this February after they had spent eight months in jail awaiting trial.
“The state can prove a sex crime merely by the allegation of the victim. You don't really need any evidence, you don't need any eyewitnesses. It's just whether or not a judge or jury would believe that witness. And so if the victim then under what we believe falsely accuses somebody there has to be accountability towards that person,” said Adair County Prosecutor Mark Williams.
Williams tells KTVO the indictment alleges that Earlene Rogers lied about what happened in that incident.
“We don't take these things lightly. Even though we didn't handle the underlying case because of a conflict once we found out what we believed happened we got the files, reviewed them and presented it to the grand jury. We pay attention to everything that happens, and we certainly don't want people falsely accusing anybody. Nobody should have to spend any time in jail if they are innocent,” Williams said.
Williams says Earlene Rogers could be arraigned as early as Tuesday. If convicted of all eight charges, she could spend up to 56 years in prison.
Link: http://www.heartlandconnection.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=301397
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37 comments:
We need to mount a campaign *before* she gets her sentence, not after. Or, what's the point?
What can we do to help?
I don't know where this case is located, but writing the media source in intelligent and well thought out ways would make an impact.
Contacting the prosecutor, encouraging him to do the right thing might be another.
Having uninvolved people show up for hearing and trials to 'observe' how the case is handled - then reporting it publicly - is another good thing.
These are some of the more successful tactics of victim's advocates.
Silence is perceived as acceptance.
Write polite letters to the judge, using arguments that are consistent with feminist dogma ("These people who are abusing the system are making real rape victims look bad!") Don't say anything about the men themselves; the judge won't give a damn about that.
This is the comment I left at the site.
I plead Not Guilty of 'feminist dogma' since I kept it gender neutral.
Men make false accusations too, ya know.
Here's MY version a well thought out argument:
False accusers should be made to bear the FULL punishment they would have inflicted on their intended victim - that not only includes PRISON TIME, but also being FORCED TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER for the rest of their lives.
They ARE, in fact, SEX OFFENDERS as much as any other person who commits rape - for a false accusation of rape is surely the equivalent of rape.
They should do prison time and attend sexual abuse therapy at their own expense. They should have their name and picture for every neighbor, vigilante maniac and 'concerned mom' to hand out fliers where ever they try to move or build a life.
They should be stripped of the right to vote or bear arms. They should have to have special license plates on their cars, and 'NO HALLOWEEN HERE' signs on their front door in October.
They should have police knocking on their door at any time to check on them and forced to register as a sex offender where ever they visit.
They should have TV camera crews show up to humiliate them and their children at any time, and for any reason. They should never be allowed to use social networking sites, or 'loiter' around their children's school, soccer games, parks, beaches, churches, or live near day cares centers or school bus stops.
If some crazed idiot wants to gun them down, their sex offender status should make it OK.
If their children are shunned, beaten, tormented for sharing their public shaming, well, "they just should of thought of that when they committed their crime."
My son is on a sex offender registry by virtue of a false accusation.
Welcome to his world.
_________________________________
The only 'true victim' here is the person falsely accused - I can't concern myself with phantom 'true victims' who fear coming forward too much. If they REALLY need justice to be served, they will find the courage.
I saw this site posted one comment 3 months ago.
You gotta get mad, guys.
The time has come to speak out.
I think I'm onto something here.
The public, politicians and media are besotted with sex offender registries.
There is a national mania to put as many people on them as possible.
Men. Women. Children.
The Kansas State sex offender registry has a sweet faced apple cheeked 14 year old girl smiling on their sex offender registry.
Nobody is spared.
The 'true victims' of false accusations are the ones falsely accused -
Perceived 'true victims' who sincerely want justice done will over come their fear and do whatever it takes.
Men hardly ever make false accusations.
ach! One last salvo, then I'm done!
The same sick selfishness that motivates someone to sexually abuse another is the exact same sick selfishness that motivates someone to falsely accuse.
Exactly the same.
One is just as likely to 'reoffend' as the other...one is just as 'incurable' as the other.
One is just as damaging and dangerous to society as the other.
Your'e dealing exactly with the same monster.
How's THAT for a compelling, non cow-towing non-pandering argument?
Sgt. Mom, I agree. The problem you'd have is the problem we have everywhere in this area -- any thing we do to protect the falsely accused is framed as hurting the cause of encouraging actual rape victims to "come forward." There is a huge pushback.
Does that mean we shouldn't try? Absolutely not. It means we should just try harder!
Your false accuser registry has been suggested by others, and it's a great idea. I challenge you to send me an article about it -- of whater length -- that I can post. Let's get the ball rolling.
Yes they do.
Remember who said as a child he was molested by a Priest when 1) he was Jewish and never attended a Catholic church, and 2) the priest didn't even serve in that area until years later than the man claimed it happened.
Michael Jackson's little accuser?
Make that accusers.
All the major daycare cases included little boys as well as little girls.
I just recently posted an article on a kid who claimed rape at the behest of his mother.
ALL false accusers should be punished. This whiny "boys against the girls" stuff will get you no where.
Anon - Men hardly make false accusations? They say "women hardly commit rape", too.
Does that give them a pass when they do? Do we ignore the fact that they are culpable in order to only focus on males?
Pierce, I'm not on board with the notion of a separate but equal(?)registry for false accusers.
As far as I'm concerned, Earlene Rogers should be on the regular state sex offender registry, right alongside Tommy the Tree Pee-er, Stanly the Streaker, or Chester the Molester.
An 18 year old having consentual sex with a 15 year old will find themselves forever listed, but Earlene, who put two men in jail for 8 months - it COULD have been for life if she hadn't been busy texting - gets her own little pink registry?
A 14 year old girl gets life on the registry for sending nudie pics of herself to a classmate, but Earlene gets a little 'oopsie' registry?
Breast feeding mothers, a man who grabbed a kid's arm to holler at them, a 12 year old mooning out the school bus back window are all now registered sex offenders, but Earlene somehow gets a pass?
Earlene used sex as a weapon to harm another person's life. Earlene used sex to damage another person's life - and the lives of their children, their families, the people who love them.
Earlene deserves to be listed on the Missouri State Sex Offender Registry for the rest of her life - just as the two men she falsely accused would have been.
Sgt. Mom, I agree with you -- that's even better. I'm giving you the forum to get your message out to thousands of viewers -- not as many read the comments, so you're welcome to do a post. You write extremely well, and it would be a valuable point to make.
Pierce
Arrrgh! Now I'm mad!
I know several years ago there WAS a false accusers registry. It's apparently been removed or is defunct for lack of support.
It was an angry man's registry, and however much I shared their anguish - it was just plain inappropriate.
This fusty notion that false accusers are given a pass because it 'might' do this, or it 'might' do that needs to be nipped in the bud.
False accusations must be proven beyond reasonable doubt. Just as 9 true rapists will go free to ensure justice, so it goes with false accusers.
What are you gonna do?
My 17 year old daughter's best friend was killed in a car accident. She wasn't a party girl or a drinker, but like many kids that age, she over-reacted by drinking herself stupid at the wake. She accepted a ride home with a group of girlfriends from a 'fringe guy' - an older guy nobody liked, but he had a car and could buy underagers booze.
He saved her ride home for last, took her to some dirt road, she was too blotto to stop him from putting on a condom and raping her. His Dad had friends in law enforcement and he had gotten advice from them on how to "keep from being falsely accused". The kid sat right at my dinner table months earlier discussing his fear of being falsely accused.
He dumped her on a street corner in front of our house where her other friends had gathered.
She didn't tell me for months. She rightly so, knew I would forbid her from associating with those friends - I'd warned her many times about drinking and the chance it could lead to rape.
The rapist threatened her with his Dad's LE contacts,he could get her charged for 'lying'. She couldn't remember where he'd taken her. He'd taken time to put on a condom. She was drinking, underaged.
On evening months later my family was out Christmas shopping. Someone knocked on our front door. When I opened it. No one was there, a car was speeding off, two people had peed on our door - I stood there in shock watching it drip onto my rug.
Christmas morning we awoke to find our house shot up with paint balls.
Days later, BITCH was spelled out on our driveway in huge letters.
She finally broke down and told me she'd been raped months ago. He was vandalizing our home because no one believed she consented to have sex with him, and he was being shunned.
The policeman spoke to her privately. She'd waited too long to report. He told me there was not enough proof or evidence to press charges. He advised us to get a restraining order to stop the vandalism.
My daughter, sobbing, begged to take a polygraph. He said that just wasn't done.
The rapist showed up at court the day we went to get the restraining order, attorney in tow, and took one out against her.
For weeks afterward, he sat on his car hood in view of our front door, just beyond the prescribed limit, laughing and sneering.
It was only a few months after that our son was embroiled in his false accusation.
Last I saw of him he was a meth addict, missing teeth and working in a gas station.
My daughter is happily married to a Marine recently deployed 'over there', and pregnant with her first child.
I'm relaying this ugly story to show, even someone who fears reporting will eventually over come that fear and do it IF they really feel they must.
The presumption of innocence is a joke. If your son was falsely convicted then you should understand that.
I also don't know why you ASSUME that your daughter's friend's story was the truth, just because she was your daughter's friend. Do you think maybe she was lying?
Sgt. Mom
I liked your post about false accusers being put on a sex offender registry. I totally agree with you.
Also I agree with you that guys falsely accuse also. Look at the Duke case Nifong was just as much of a false accuser as the girl was. And the examples of the priests I have heard similar on the radio here about guys accusing priests just to get money.
I feel for you having to go through the sex offender registry thing. I don't agree with this either. It should be for ALL crimes or none at all.
But as long as there is a sex offender registry false accusers should definitely be on it. The amount of MALICE it takes to falsely accuse someone like is inhuman.
I hope the girl in the story gets all 56 years. She deserves them so does everyone like her.
Anon #1 - you misunderstood. This 'story' was my daughter's - not her friend's.
I believe her without reservation, just as I believe my son.
Not all women are liars, not all men are innocent.
And yes. The only way that loser s%$^head could ever get laid was by drugs, alcohol and force.
---------
Nice Anon #2 : This accuser is a very unsympathetic figure here, if you saw her picture. You can see the malice in her unattractive face. I have no doubt she'll be made an example of - as far as women being made examples of goes.
Somewhere posted on the net are pictures of the top ten 'hot' teachers caught having sex with very, very young students. They were guilty. None of them got harsh sentences. Not one. Remember the Judge in Florida who told the rapist teacher she was "too pretty to go to prison".
I suspect it goes that way with false accusers too.
I haven't seen pictures of many, but so far, the ones getting exposed and face punishment are on the not-too-attractive side.
My son's accuser is very attractive. The Judge was making googly eyes at her the entire time when he wasn't distracted by the prosecutor imperiously strutting back and forth in her Ali McBeal short short skirt. It was a joke. An obscene joke.
Most people avoid anything to do with the judicial system if they can help it. If more people were exposed to what is really going on, perhaps things would improve.
Perhaps not.
The OJ trial is a great example, I guess. I saw OJ as guilty, with no doubt whatsoever. My dear friend, a woman with an engineering degree who's opinion I completely respect, was shocked that I didn't see his innocence. She was black, and I was white.
Call me crazy, I never doubted Michael Jackson was falsely accused. Guilty of being a weirdo, but not guilty of molesting this particular kid.
I saw a self serving 'Nifong' style prosecutor setting him up. I saw a grifter Mom out to get whatever she could, already guilty of false accusations in her past. I saw some truly evil 'faux news' celebrity attorneys hanging him out to dry.
Even though aquitted, his name is now his shame.
To this day I still hear Michael Jackson kiddie molester jokes...and what happened to THAT false accuser?
Sgt Mom
I read the article on this girl and I saw your post in the comments and I liked it!
You should post that on any false accuser stories you can find I thought it was great!
The case is located in Kirksville,MO.
http://www.topix.com/city/kirksville-mo/2009/05/missouri-woman-accused-of-lying-about-rapes
Reporter: "What do you hope to see happen from this point on?" "Justice in a sense, I guess. You know, we lost eight months of our lives we can never get back. I'd like to see something actually materialize out of it," said Johnson.
"I think she deserves to be in there. I mean whatever happens, happens. I mean she brought it onto herself," said Tim Rogers.
Rogers and Johnson were released from jail in late February after the Missouri Attorney General's Office dismissed the charges against them.
"I like to see the fact that something is done after all this. I can't get my eight months back," said Johnson.
Reporter: "What kind of impact has this had on your life, the fact that you spent eight months in jail for nothing." "I mean I got five kids, and it's eight months that I can't give back to them,” said Tim Rogers.
http://www.heartlandconnection.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=302536
I will never get back the seven long months I spent in jail, while my false accuser and her ilk enjoyed their freedom I am still being harassed by them. They have tried to tell everyone in the neighborhood that I am some kind of pedophile. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even seeing a child is a reminder of the hell I went through as a child. I have had to accept the fact that I will never father any children. I was tortured,abused and raped. The state of Tennessee managed to cover it up and destroy all of the evidence. There is nothing they can do to ever make up for what they caused or allowed. As far as my being gender profiled by the police here in Nashville, when a trouble making woman claimed I waved a gun at her, I have mailed a letter to the FBI detailing my account of what really happened on the evening of August2,2006. I cannot forget what happened. I had the chance for a lifelong dream to come true. I was finally accepted into the U.S. Army and this woman,her ilk, the state,the feminazi prosecutor( Kathy morante), the backstabbing and worthless public defenders and the private court appointed attorney, all who coerced me into accepting a plea bargain ( they knew I was a member of the Tennessee Army National Guard ). I saw no other choice. If I had waited the six to eight more months ATTY Richard Dumas told me I would have to wait before my case would go to trial, I would more than likely be dead now as disertion during a time of war is an executable offense. My dreams have been stolen from me all because two boys, a woman and her ilk, decided to lie on me. If the parents of the two boys actually thought I had exposed myself to the boys, they would have gotten a warrant. It is clear to me that I am the victim of a set up. Sgt Mom, you are right, anyone be they an adult or a child can falsely accuse someone of something and
I believe her without reservation, just as I believe my son.
Your standard of evidence is being related to the claimant?
not only cost someone everything they dreamed of,prayed for, sacrificed for and, suffered for, taken away and leave their life ruined. I do believe what comes around, goes around. I just hope and pray the FBI sees the bias the police,the state and those who were paid by my tax dollars, disriminated against me, based on my gender, and ignored my call for help when these people came to my home and attacked/threatened me. By doing so, the police allowed these people to get away with committing multiple felonies while, arresting me for a crime that I never committed.
I feel for you, other anon. Never forget what happened. You must spend the rest of your life helping other men in the same situation.
"Your standard of evidence is being related to the claimant?"
I've attempted to post my son's false accusation story on 'regular' sites before, only to have some obstinate guy assuring me my son was truly a rapist.
I guess because he'd never been falsely accused he believe anyone claiming to be falsely accused were all liars.
Now I have to defend my daughter against being a false accuser because you obstinately believe all women are liars?
That's really unhealthy and not helpful to this cause.
As I've said before, WOMEN ARE ALSO FALSELY ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ABUSE. With more and more frequency.
So are children - of either gender.
The innocent suffer so much more than guilty. Deniers are soundly punished by the system.
A truly guilty person only has to confess, schmooze up in therapy, say what needs to be said, do what needs to be done, and they sail through just fine.
The innocent person, however, is horrifically punished.
It's like being subjected to painful invasive surgery, radiation and chemo therapy when you don't have cancer.
You can't be 'cured' of a disease you don't have.
You can't pass polygraphs. Even if you try to comply and 'confess' you can't come up with a viable scenario of how you conducted the crime. You'd have to be a real rapist to succeed, and God help an innocent person who would never dream of harming another - they fail miserably and pay a horrible price.
You need to get on some pink "I Love NY" boxers and learn to fight effectively, Anon.
It not a fight for men. It's not a gender fight against women.
It's an honorable fight for justice...
I was just wondering what standard of proof your daughter has met that wasn't met in your son's case. Why should anybody automatically believe a rape accusation that wasn't reported in a timely fashion? And if it's okay for people to just take her word for it then what was wrong with convicting your son? You seem to lack consistency, although you have no problem lecturing others about "how to fight."
I have been fighing for other men. What I went through was too much like being falsely accused of rape and witchcraft. You have heard it before and you may hear it again, an innocent person will not plead guilty to a crime they never committed. I tell you the truth, an innocent person will plead guilty to anything when they have the equivilent of a loaded gun aimed at their head. All of those who were involved knew I was in the military. They knew there were severe penalties for being AWOL and for disertion during a time of war. If I were guilty I would have no problem with what happened or what is happening now. There were too many inconsistencies with the so called victim's story. It is like a sergeant who was in my unit said, " it should never have went as far as it did. They should have pulled her from the stand and charged her with lying to the police, and giving false testimony to the DA's office. This is why I mailed a copy of the police report and the transcripts from the preliminary hearing to the FBI.
As long as there is breath in my lungs and fire in my heart, I will continue to speak up and out for the falsely accused and the wrongfully punished.
"I was just wondering what standard of proof your daughter has met that wasn't met in your son's case."
This 'innocent' guy just started vandalizing our home so my daughter falsely accused him of rape instead of vandalism?
I don't believe my son repeatedly raped a girl and her hymen magically grew back, and I don't believe this thug was threatened and intimidated my daughter for months to keep her from accusing him of something that never happened.
Call me crazy.
Somebody painted "bitch" on your garage so that's supposed to prove rape?
When i was in college, this jewish girl painted a swastika on her bedroom door, and started a moral panic on campus, and tried to blame me for it.
Has society gone mad, or just subject to mass hysteria??
1)He pissed on my front door, 2)shot up my home with a paint ball gun Christmas night,3)painted the words BITCH on my concrete drive way in huge letters 4) bragged his Dad's cop buddies had instructed him how to avoid being 'falsely accused' should the need some day arise.
No. It only proved he's a good boy scout who's motto is "always be prepared."
"It not a fight for men"
I'm afraid it is.
Norm --Women are as subject to false accusations as men.
Believe it or not.
You want a list of names, just ask.
Sure there's disparity. A woman accusing a man - it's a slam dunk. A woman accusing another woman - it might get a closer look.
Depends on the career ambitions of the cop,Prosecutor or Judge.
It's an assault against justice - not 'just us'.
Yes, let's have the list of names of women falsely accused of raping men.
"Women are as subject to false accusations as men."
Men have a near monopoly on false rape victimization.
Sgt. Mom is trying to obfuscate the issue. So what if she does have a few names? Give us some stats..percentages...from a reliable source.
SgtMom is full of it, but I certainly have seen cases of women being falsely accused, and it is tragic when it happens. For example, sometimes the dad is wrongfully charged with molestation, so to make his defense even more difficult they also charge the mother with failing to stop him. And no evidence is required to do this to innocent parents.
Our system is a disgusting cesspool of fraud and opportunism, and it is in everybody's interest to clean it up. But men are definitely the primary targets.
My son and my son's friend were falsely accused of rape in Feb. 08 when they were 18yo Seniors in high school, the accuser being a 16 yo. All had been to a party, had been drinking, but the three of them sat and discussed having sex prior to engaging in it because all three were involved in relationships, so, the sex was consunsual and that was after she had had sex with her boyfriend a few hours prior, then proceeded to flash everyone at the party after her boyfriend left.(His mother picked him up) This girl had lied to her parents and her friend's parents, about her whereabouts, and her boyfriends mother threatened to tell her parents where she was and what she was doing, so, to keep from getting in trouble, she made up the rape lie. Now my son and his friend could spend 20-40 years in prison just so she wouldn't get in trouble with her parents and so that her boyfriend wouldn't break up with her. Oh and this same girl accused a teacher of sexual harrassment just the year prior to this incident. I am one very p.o.'d mom. My son asks me frequently why someone would lie like she has, I can only tell him that it's an attention getter for her. I hope when this girl testifies at the trial, the jury sees her for what she really is - a pathilogical liar. There is alot more to this story, but I just needed to vent about this injustice. Regret is NOT rape.
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