Police: Woman arrested for a fake sexual assault report

IOWA CITY — Police arrested a woman Tuesday for fabricating a sexual assault accusation.

Officers said Elizabeth M. McDonald, 21, of Iowa City falsely reported herself as the victim of a sexual assault that she said took place in February of 2010 by an individual unidentified in police complaints.

Police said, McDonald provided authorities with a detailed written statement about the alleged assault, naming a suspect in the matter.

According to police complains McDonald’s current boyfriend, Matthew G. Nutter, 23, of Iowa City, decided to confront the suspected assaulter about the abuse. Nutter dressed in dark clothing and a ski mask allegedly hid himself in the man’s’ car during the early hours of the morning before he got off work.

Police said Nutter admitted he was attempting to scare and intimidate the man into giving him information about the assault.

Nutter was confronted by the man as well as his co-workers, who then fled before police arrived.

During the investigation, officers discovered that McDonald had lied in her incident report and was also making contact with the suspect without police knowledge.

Police said a recorded phone call was made to the suspected abuser where McDonald admitted she had made up the allegation and reported the fabricated incident to get back at the suspect out of spite. McDonald also told police that she was not assaulted and she made a false report during a police interview.

Sexual Abuse is a third degree class C felony punishable by a maximum of 10 years in jail with a fine of at least $1,000 but not exceeding $10,000.

According to police McDonald was charged with False Report and third-degree harassment. Iowa City police said they didn’t have the complaint for McDonald’s third-degree harassment charge.

Link:
http://easterniowanewsnow.com/2010/06/17/police-woman-arrested-for-a-fake-sexual-assault-report/