A chilling story out of Connecticut.
Brittany Reith, 20, showed up twelve hours late to the apartment she shares with her boyfriend because she'd been out on the town having a good time with a 31-year-old man. To cover up, Reith made a sworn, written statement to police claiming she'd been kidnapped by three men, held against her will, and repeatedly raped.
The man Reith had been with, 31-year-old Joseph Gay and his cousin, 30-year-old Anthony Lee, were arrested on felony sexual assault and battery charges.
Anthony Lee was arrested even though he was working for most of the time when he was allegedly holding Reith against her will and raping her.
Joseph Gay was also arrested, even though a video camera proved he was eating lunch with Reith at a Wendy's, and trying to get into a club with her, not holding her against her will.
Lee, a former standout Norwalk High School basketball player, had no criminal record. Gay had never been arrested for a violent crime.
Both men were initially held on "extremely high bonds" because of the violent nature of the accusations.
Read that last sentence again: a rape accusation is enough to lock up a male before any investigation and, for most men (except the wealthy), there's no real chance he'll get out before trial unless the claim was clearly a lie.
But then, Norwalk detectives and investigators from the State's Attorney's Office conducted what one newspaper called "further investigation" into the matter and found several pieces of evidence that contradicted Reith's story. Specifically, the video of the Wendy's and the information about being at the club.
Far from being held against her will and raped repeatedly, Reith and Mr. Gay spent a night on the town, then caught a ride to Lee's home and slept on his couch.
When Reith told police her rape lie, patrol officers went to Lee's home and found the two men sleeping. The men were immediately arrested.
That's all it took. Just her word.
Yet a police officer said this: "We can't take things at face value, and we don't."
Did you get that? Arresting two innocent men and holding them on extremely high bonds before any investigation is conducted is not taking things at "face value."
Down, down, down the rabbit hole we go.
In contrast, Reith's bond has been set at $5,000. Meaning she's probably out already, partying, going to Wendy's, and scanning the Internet for stories about her. I hope she sees this one.
I don't know what scares you, but this story scares the hell out of me.
SOURCES:
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/policereports/article/Norwalk-woman-charged-with-falsely-reporting-rape-1443251.php#ixzz1QbFa6VBH
http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/f91ba1d4d2d0406dbd0161a5672c77fc/CT--Rape-Hoax/
http://www.thehour.com/register/?storyid=507282
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