Gage County authorities dropped all charges against a Wymore man Friday and arrested the woman who accused him of a sexual assault on suspicion of lying about the incident.
The Gage County Attorney’s Office charged Jennifer Valenta of Wilber with perjury, false reporting, obstructing government operations, tampering with evidence and two counts of prostitution.
On Thursday, Valenta admitted to fabricating allegations that Elliot Hawkins, 48, and three other men gang raped her at Big Indian Recreation Area in southern Gage County, according to a news release from the county attorney’s office.
Hawkins’ attorney, Robert Kortus of Lincoln, said dismissal of the charges at the county attorney’s request did not come as a surprise.
“The hope was the truth would come out and the truth would vindicate him. And that seems to be what has happened,” Kortus said Friday night.
"I certainly am grateful they (the sheriff’s office) made the effort to keep the case open and investigate the facts of that allegation to determine whether they were truthful,” Kortus said.
According to the Gage County Attorney’s Office, an investigation revealed evidence did not support the allegations made by Valenta, 27. The investigation included numerous interviews, an examination of physical evidence gathered at the scene, DNA testing and a forensic examination of photographs of the injuries Valenta said she suffered during the reported assault.
Chief Deputy Gage County Attorney Rick Schreiner said a lot of time and money have been spent on the case. He said DNA testing was done at the University of Nebraska Medical Center because of a six-month wait at the State Crime Lab.
“I see it as an issue with restitution,” Schreiner said. “There’s a lot of money wrapped up in this, and I’m going to consider pursuing restitution as part of sentencing based on the cost of the investigation.”
Schreiner said Friday’s arrest isn’t the end of the story, and Hawkins still could face charges.
“We’re not totally ruling out filing a different charge on Elliot,” Schreiner said. “She agreed to have sex with him for money and as you can see, she’s charged with prostitution. And there’s two sides to prostitution.”
Kortus declined to comment on the possibility of future charges against Hawkins, but did say, “right now things are not as rosy as they might be.”
“Right now there is no solicitation charge against my client,” Kortus said.
Schreiner said he doesn’t believe the Gage County Sheriff’s Office acted too quickly in arresting Hawkins. He said it was his decision to proceed and “the system worked.”
“It was an excellent investigation,” Schreiner said. “It was a very fair investigation and it was a search for the truth. There’s a lot of credit that needs to go to those folks.”
Gage County Sheriff Millard “Gus” Gustafson said his office continues to look into the situation, but declined to elaborate.
“We’re still actively looking into it. I don’t want anything out there that is going to jeopardize that,” he said.
Gustafson said deputies reacted appropriately to the initial report of a sexual assault.
“Your No. 1 concern when you have a report of information that comes to you like that, the first concern you have is the safety of the alleged victim. So you act on that,” Gustafson said.
While the recent development didn’t quite surprise Gustafson, it did frustrate him, he said.
“It has taken a lot of taxpayer money and a lot of resources to investigate this. And to find out your victim was not up front with you is very frustrating,” Gustafson said.
Schreiner said he hopes the case doesn’t deter others from reporting sexual assaults, saying this was a rare case in which the accusations were false.
“We hope this doesn’t chill reports of sexual assault,” Schreiner said. “We want folks to know that we’ll pursue them vigorously and we’ll investigate them thoroughly in a search for the truth.
“Ninety-nine percent of the time, that victim is telling us the truth and we want to pursue that case to close off any avenue of escape for that defendant so we have a solid case going forward.”
Valenta is set for her first court appearance on Monday.
The Gage County Attorney’s Office charged Jennifer Valenta of Wilber with perjury, false reporting, obstructing government operations, tampering with evidence and two counts of prostitution.
On Thursday, Valenta admitted to fabricating allegations that Elliot Hawkins, 48, and three other men gang raped her at Big Indian Recreation Area in southern Gage County, according to a news release from the county attorney’s office.
Hawkins’ attorney, Robert Kortus of Lincoln, said dismissal of the charges at the county attorney’s request did not come as a surprise.
“The hope was the truth would come out and the truth would vindicate him. And that seems to be what has happened,” Kortus said Friday night.
"I certainly am grateful they (the sheriff’s office) made the effort to keep the case open and investigate the facts of that allegation to determine whether they were truthful,” Kortus said.
According to the Gage County Attorney’s Office, an investigation revealed evidence did not support the allegations made by Valenta, 27. The investigation included numerous interviews, an examination of physical evidence gathered at the scene, DNA testing and a forensic examination of photographs of the injuries Valenta said she suffered during the reported assault.
Chief Deputy Gage County Attorney Rick Schreiner said a lot of time and money have been spent on the case. He said DNA testing was done at the University of Nebraska Medical Center because of a six-month wait at the State Crime Lab.
“I see it as an issue with restitution,” Schreiner said. “There’s a lot of money wrapped up in this, and I’m going to consider pursuing restitution as part of sentencing based on the cost of the investigation.”
Schreiner said Friday’s arrest isn’t the end of the story, and Hawkins still could face charges.
“We’re not totally ruling out filing a different charge on Elliot,” Schreiner said. “She agreed to have sex with him for money and as you can see, she’s charged with prostitution. And there’s two sides to prostitution.”
Kortus declined to comment on the possibility of future charges against Hawkins, but did say, “right now things are not as rosy as they might be.”
“Right now there is no solicitation charge against my client,” Kortus said.
Schreiner said he doesn’t believe the Gage County Sheriff’s Office acted too quickly in arresting Hawkins. He said it was his decision to proceed and “the system worked.”
“It was an excellent investigation,” Schreiner said. “It was a very fair investigation and it was a search for the truth. There’s a lot of credit that needs to go to those folks.”
Gage County Sheriff Millard “Gus” Gustafson said his office continues to look into the situation, but declined to elaborate.
“We’re still actively looking into it. I don’t want anything out there that is going to jeopardize that,” he said.
Gustafson said deputies reacted appropriately to the initial report of a sexual assault.
“Your No. 1 concern when you have a report of information that comes to you like that, the first concern you have is the safety of the alleged victim. So you act on that,” Gustafson said.
While the recent development didn’t quite surprise Gustafson, it did frustrate him, he said.
“It has taken a lot of taxpayer money and a lot of resources to investigate this. And to find out your victim was not up front with you is very frustrating,” Gustafson said.
Schreiner said he hopes the case doesn’t deter others from reporting sexual assaults, saying this was a rare case in which the accusations were false.
“We hope this doesn’t chill reports of sexual assault,” Schreiner said. “We want folks to know that we’ll pursue them vigorously and we’ll investigate them thoroughly in a search for the truth.
“Ninety-nine percent of the time, that victim is telling us the truth and we want to pursue that case to close off any avenue of escape for that defendant so we have a solid case going forward.”
Valenta is set for her first court appearance on Monday.
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10 comments:
"Ninety-nine percent of the time, that victim is telling us the truth"
Remind me never to vacation or move to that area with such false beliefs about facts and statistics in the minds of the white knight and mangina DAs and police.
Aharon
Sorry for a bit 'off topic'-
A well written up court case of a false sexual assault male/male in Ireland, with a quite good take on underlying causes.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/x-factor/9040346/Dance-teacher-jailed-for-falsely-accusing-Louis-Walsh-of-groping-him.html
"Ninety-nine percent of the time, that victim is telling us the truth and we want to pursue that case to close off any avenue of escape for that defendant so we have a solid case going forward.”
Valenta is set for her first court appearance on Monday."
concerned citizen says..When American law enforcement tell these lies to the public, it manufactures a prejudice against the innocent.
Just reading ABC news, false rape accusation, after false rape accusation, after false rape accusation, after.....
Folks, as a society how did we get here???
The case I am collecting information/opinions from various people is also, of course, about the false accusation of rape. The case is in the process, so I would be really grateful, if you could take a look at my blog and leave a comment or/and if my story would be posted on this site, so that I could receive as much feedback as possible. Thank you in advance.
The link is:
http://www.vasserberg.blogspot.com/2012/01/japanese-college-professor-falsely.html
99% of this community is atypical of the cult that is the hate crime, feminism.
Yes, this is a cult by the strictest of definitions, no basis in reality nor any facts, blind to life that surrounds itself, only to hate and destroy itself all in the name of 'Equality'.
"Man up!"
This bloke has been in prison for about four weeks from what I can find. Over Christmas. The headlines that greeted his arrest include language such as "ring leader in a gang rape".
Schreiner(ADA) said he doesn’t believe the Gage County Sheriff’s Office acted too quickly in arresting Hawkins. He said it was his decision to proceed and “the system worked.”
Yeah, right.
From other coverage re current charge...
“These are serious charges,” Schreiner said. “I understand there’s no violence alleged in this particular case, but it’s serious nonetheless.”
No violence? I wonder how Hawkins views that.
“We hope this doesn’t chill reports of sexual assault,” Schreiner said. “We want folks to know that we’ll pursue them vigorously and we’ll investigate them thoroughly in a search for the truth.
Got the memo. We saw what you did to Elliot Hawkins.
Could anyone help me ? I myself have been a victim of a false accusation.... fortunately for me when I applied for a Police ACPO Certificate nothing at all was stored on the police national computer and it was still "NO TRACE" on my certificate. But I am wanting to apply for my visa to the USA... I still have to declare this even though no record is on the police computer. Will this still have bearing on my visa ? what are my chances ? Im really apprehensive ?
Thanks
James
James,
I would recommed talking to a local attorney. Pierce and I are both in the United States, and the laws there that govern Visa application, and the process for this, are better handled by someone who has direct knowledge.
Best of luck.
Good blog! I really love how it is easy on my eyes and the data are well written. I'm wondering how I might be notified whenever a new post has been made. I've subscribed to your RSS which must do the trick! Have a nice day!
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