Argentine Spends 20 Months in Jail on False Rape Charge

Comments interspersed.

Man released after 20 months in prison because of rape lie

BUENOS AIRES – A 42-year-old man spent 20 months in a maximum security prison accused of raping his daughter, but the girl repented and confessed that she lied when she accused him, the press said on Friday.

The prosecutor withdrew the charges and the court released the defendant, after his daughter, now 19, repeated that she had lied, something that she had already said during the initial investigation, but her statement was not admitted because of the possibility that she had been pressured by the family.

So, without any proof that the family pressured her, just the possibility, her statement was not admitted. Twenty months in a maximum security prison, because the prosecutor refused to allow that the girl lied. Sounds like a prosecutor that needs to spend some time behind bars.

Defense attorney Claudia Mirele said in a statement published in the Buenos Aires daily Clarin that the girl lied as a reprisal against her father for being “too strait-laced.”

“The girl’s main argument with her father was the strict control the man exercised over his five children. My client is a truck driver, but he had gone to university and to feed his family he left school. He wanted his children to study and not be lazy.

Notice how she is constantly referred to as a 'girl'. Sorry, but at 19, women are adults. This young woman needs to face some serious consequences for this act. To accuse your father of rape, and have him spend almost 2 years in prison, merits some form of punishment.

He was a strict, controlling father,” the attorney said.

The daughter of the accused had stated in the hearing of the case that the charge was unfounded.

“It was a terrible thing. When the plaintiff has suffered no physical consequences, the court must base its decision on circumstantial evidence. The minor, after making the accusation, said that her father was innocent. But at the time it was feared that the girl had been threatened to make her give another version of what happened,” prosecutor Marcelo Altamirano said.

It was "feared". No checking to see if there were any threats, just what was "feared." Good reason to put a man in prison for 20 months.

The defendant was confined for almost two years because of the case and, had he been sentenced, would have spent from eight to 20 years behind bars.

Thanks to one of our readers for the tip.


Link: http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=346488&CategoryId=14093