my 16 year old son falsely accused of rape by a woman of 40

[landlady]

dear saffron,
i'm so sorry for you that you were lead in the wrong direction by your solicitor and barrister, i can only tell you how sorry i am if your husband was convicted. i can only imagine how you and he are feeling.

we feel like we are small fish in a big pond as far as all this is concerned, never having dealt with the legal system before is so scarey. we can only reley on what our solicitor and when appointed our barrister has to tell us, and ofcourse now i have found this place of guidance it will help me understand more through other peoples experiences.

you didn't upset me saffron, i just need to stay possitive for my sons sake, and maybe sometimes i have to hear some negative experiences as well as good.

i and my family are all good people and wish all well on this web site who have found themselves in our position.

[landlady]

as i have just said, dealing with solicitors and such is new to us. although i think he is the write choice time will tell. we are now in the position of appointing a barrister.

our solicitor is guiding us towards a mr sheldon, but i have heard of a caroline bradley. does anyone know either of them??? please help!!!

[Rights Fighter]

i have thought about hiring private detective but is this evidence going to be submissible in court?

If you pay for a PI you might find yourself with the burden of paying for the trial - you can ask the sol to consider hiring a PI. That can be done on Public Funding. The evidence gathered by a PI can be admissible at trial but would probably be applied for via the Court, if the Crown objects.

In relation to the accuser's "Bad Character" that would be subject to an application at trial which the Crown would problem object to so it would be for the judge to decide.

Which county are you in? I might be able to identify a decent barrister for you. I have not heard of the ones you have named - that doesn't mean they are no good, all it means is that I've not heard of them.

[landlady]

If you pay for a PI you might find yourself with the burden of paying for the trial - you can ask the sol to consider hiring a PI. That can be done on Public Funding. The evidence gathered by a PI can be admissible at trial but would probably be applied for via the Court, if the Crown objects.

In relation to the accuser's "Bad Character" that would be subject to an application at trial which the Crown would problem object to so it would be for the judge to decide.

Which county are you in? I might be able to identify a decent barrister for you. I have not heard of the ones you have named - that doesn't mean they are no good, all it means is that I've not heard of them.

hi there, thankyou for your advice, we are in nottinghamshire.

[Rights Fighter]

http://www.7br.co.uk/barristers-and-...n-langdale.asp

I saw this one in action at Nottingham Crown court. He was really good and stood his ground. Unfortunately Maddie McCann went missing the week of the trial so our man was convicted due to that.

However, the jury heard ALL the lies, he got the accuser to say that "everything I told the jury is wrong",

He got her best friend to say "You can't believe a word B say cos she tells lies all the time".

He took on board a report done pro bon (free) by a forensics computer expert and used that report, so much so the police computer expert went straight back to his office and re-examined the hard drive and found more than 20 viruses and Trojans, any of which could have put the 23 images on the hard drive.

It looked like things were going our way, Crown barrister was worried all the time. When the verdict came in we were all gobsmacked because Adrian pulled absolutely EVERYTHING out of the hat - unfortunately the jury chose to disregard it.

His closing speech was one of the best I have heard in many a trial I have attended.

Our man was convicted simply because Maddie McCann went missing and the jury MUST have been influenced by that. I pity any man who was tried that week.

[worriedfather]

Hi Landlady
Sorry to find you here and i hope that it all goes well for you. My son was in court this week and fortunately was found Not Guilty, The Prosecution stated that he had lied in certain places and they tried very hard to prove this. This is a very long haul and is very much a rollercoaster ride. Did your son use a condom and if so what happened to it? Does she have any previous convictions? You should recieve all the evidence that they intend to use including statements and interviews. Go through them with a fine toothcomb and you will find all sorts of stuff. We found the wrong date on some police statements, wrong police station, the story that she made up changed across 3 statements. We will offer all the help we can and good luck

[landlady]

Hi Landlady
Sorry to find you here and i hope that it all goes well for you. My son was in court this week and fortunately was found Not Guilty, The Prosecution stated that he had lied in certain places and they tried very hard to prove this. This is a very long haul and is very much a rollercoaster ride. Did your son use a condom and if so what happened to it? Does she have any previous convictions? You should recieve all the evidence that they intend to use including statements and interviews. Go through them with a fine toothcomb and you will find all sorts of stuff. We found the wrong date on some police statements, wrong police station, the story that she made up changed across 3 statements. We will offer all the help we can and good luck

i'm atraid he did not use a condom, although he always carried one!! i asked why he did not use it, he said because she was anolder woman and it was his first time he felt embarrassed to put it on. she has told the police that she went to bed fully dressed and woke up naked with him on top of her! in all the cases i have read on rape i have never known the rapist to strip the person they are raping. there were several people in the house so anyone doing such a terrible thing would take as little time as possible and leave as soon as they could. my son after they had had sex stayed at the party even going to bed in the next room until the very early hours of the next morning, he even went to the house the next day to see his friend that owned it. surely all this counts for him??? i am so pleased for you and your son, i only hope we too will feel like you must do now. thankyou for your concern xx

[Saffron]

There seem to have been a few cases NFAd recently where the accuser has claimed that she "woke up" to find the accused having sex with her. It was the same in our case too! (although after a week, she changed her statement to say that he was merely "digitally penetrating" her.) It also does seem highly unlikely that your son would go to the trouble of undressing her completely (and therefore risk waking her) before "raping" her. Have you ever tried to undress an unconscious person without waking them? It's not at all easy, I can tell you! (I hope that doesn't sounds dodgy, my experiences of trying to undress an unconscious person are limited to my hubby when he has had a few, and my 10-year-old son when we got back from holiday in the middle of the night!) Is this woman bigger-built than your son? Just a thought. If she is a "big girl" and your son is lightly-built it could be an important defence point.

Are there any witnesses (apart from you) who can attest as to her comments about your son/saw her flirting with him/them leave together?

As for not wearing a condom - well, what he has told you sounds absolutely true. His first time, and with an older woman....he probably didn't want to look as though he didn't know what he was doing.

I would also suggest that your sol applies for her medical records. Of course it's likely that this would be refused, but your sol can order them to be revealed if s/he can prove it's vital to the defence case. Bi-polar medication is varied, and has numerous side-effects I believe, so it's well worth having access to these records. She may also have BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) which can take the form of excessive attention-seeking and exaggeration in order to gain sympathy. Her "cougar" inclinations would bear this out. I mean, I am 39 and there is no WAY, even if I was single, that I would chase after a 16 year old boy! It seems she has a Mrs Robinson fixation. If a man of 40 had sex with a girl of 16, he would be condemned as a paedophile, despite her being over the age of consent.

Keep coming back, rant, rave, whatever. We are all here to support you.

[landlady]

hi saffron,
from memory she is a size 14 maybe, my son is of medium build. he had nothing to do with her in the pubonly at the house party afterwards.

my son was collecting money on the door as we had a band on.

one of the girls that was with her told me at a later date that she had asked who he was. to which she was told he was the landlord and landlady's son and was only 16, she then said he's nice but do you think 16 is a little young for me!!

i don't know if anyone heard her say anything to me because as i say we had a band on, but i stopped serving her at 10.30, simply because she was making a fool of herself around groups of men, and like i said she followed my friends husband outside and tried it on with him. she was told he was married and she came back inside. i saw this and had a word with her.

i have often wondered if she has done this to my son because of me???

when she was taken to the house where she was staying she was sat on the floor talking to the cats, others have said she was drunk but to be honest i'v seen people incapable in my time as a landlady and she certainly wasn't. she was walking whilst being man handled by a lad and his girlfriend.

my son's friend who is 15 took her up to bed along with the girl who's house it was, whom i might ad was really drunk. he tried to give a statement to police but they never turned up, as they never have for the guy who took her back either!!

at around 2.30 ish my son went upstairs to the loo, on coming out she was stood on the landing, he said she looked like you do when you have been drunk then get up the next day, she was fully clothed. he asked if she was ok. they began to have a coversation he said they came together after a while and began to kiss. after a short while she asked him if he would like to shag her!( my son thought all his birthdays had come at once) he said yes.

they went into the bed room and after kissing some more she removed her lower clothing pants and leggings, and he his. they had straight sex with him on top. as i have explained my son was in lots of pain on ejaculation due to the cyst on his testicle, he pulled off and away from her and she tried to pull him back, he said he felt embarrassed and got dressed, telling her he was going back down stairs, to which she replyed "ok".

we have not yet seen any statements so can only take these girls word for what the tell me they have said to the police so we shall see.

one question i need to ask,,,,,, can a prosecution witness give a character statement for my son??????

[Saffron]

As RF will no doubt tell you "there is no property in a witness" and therefore a prosecution witness can also be called for the defence.

It is common for the CPS and Plod to claim that the defence cannot use a prosecution witness. They do this to try and prevent the defence using witnesses that could be helpful - claim they are part of the prosecution evidence, and then drop them at court.

Your Sol will need to list anyone you could possibly want to call as a witness, including those who have already been "claimed" by the CPS. It is unlikely you will be able to do this at the last minute, so make sure your sol/barrister has made it clear that they want to call certain people as witnesses.

The prosecution's commandeering of potentially defence-helpful witnesses is very common, and is a device to prevent them giving evidence for the defence. Don't be fooled by it. A witness is a witness, and can be used by either the prosecution or the defence.

You are asking all the right questions. Keep coming back.

[landlady]

i have just spoken to a lad who was at the party that night, he's the one that took her home, i asked him if the room she was in had a light on, he said deffinately not, he knows this because he and his girlfriend were stood on the landing on several occations and the light was deffinately off. this leads me to wonder, how the hell in a dark room could she identify my son as having a spotty complextion and blonde hair ! surely the cps would have spotted this??????

[eastwood]

Hi Landlady

Hi and welcome,
This has got to be terrifying for your son, it bad enough when you are older but your son is really still just becoming a man, what an appauling start to an adult life,
when this nightmare is over for him, and it will be one day, he must not let it destroy him.
Is he able to post on here himself ? as it might help for him to chat to people in the same situation as him.
Don't stop fighting though, never give up.

[eastwood]

Hi

Hi Landlady
Sorry to find you here and i hope that it all goes well for you. My son was in court this week and fortunately was found Not Guilty, The Prosecution stated that he had lied in certain places and they tried very hard to prove this. This is a very long haul and is very much a rollercoaster ride. Did your son use a condom and if so what happened to it? Does she have any previous convictions? You should recieve all the evidence that they intend to use including statements and interviews. Go through them with a fine toothcomb and you will find all sorts of stuff. We found the wrong date on some police statements, wrong police station, the story that she made up changed across 3 statements. We will offer all the help we can and good luck

Hi Worried Father, so pleased your son got a not guilty it must be such a relief for you all.

[landlady]

i have been going through some threads on here and came across worriedfathers original one.

someone mentioned about tears that are caused by forsed sex.

i'm so worried!!!

this woman has told the girl that was her friend that forensic examination done at the rape crisis center showed a vaginal tear!

my husband tells me our son is not a small lad, if you get my drift, and no forplay took place. plus she is a woman of a certain age????

the girls also told me she likes rough sex!!

could this tear have already been there???

oh my god i'm terrifird its looking really bad!!

[largactyl1]

Hi Landlady, I feel so much for you and your son. I can imagine how I would feel if it were my son - it is bad enough it being such a very close friend of mine who is going through this at the moment. If it were my child I would definitely be in the nuthouse. It is awful how it is in your head all of the time, and your poor, poor lad. God, what an introduction to the world of sex.

Anyway, as you were saying, there was no fore-play or anything and with that it is very likely the woman would not have been adequately lubricated (as you say - a woman of a certain age and all) and this of course can lead to minor tears - particularly if this was your boy's first time, doubtless he would be a bit artless about it.

As everyone says, be ready for a major battle (as no doubt you are ) and so many people have good advice here. However, I really would find it incredible if the legal system wouldn't take into consideration that this is an experienced 40 year old accusing a boy of 16. I am in my early 40's and there is something not quite right about having sex with someone who is barely legal really. This is just what I think.

Very best wishes to you