Son falsely accused of rape by a minor

[Coltay]

Hello,
I have been reading some of the threads here and I am hoping that I may get some help, support and advice. I am amazed at how many people have and are going through this!

My son was falsely accused of rape in May this year and he was 17 years old at the time. The girl concerned was 15 at the time. This girl accused my son of having raped her on two seperate occasions over a two week period in Dec 2012 at my house. He has been on bail since then and has turned 18 now but he is still in full time education doing his last year of A level which he has redone one year. Today we have been told that he needs to come in to the police station they will discuss what they call triage where if he takes the lesser charge of under age sex the rape will go away and he will not have it placed on his record. I know I haven't explained all the circumstances in full but he will be pleading not guilty today as he is adamant he has not had sex with her at all so he will have to go to court. My son only went out with this girl for approx 1 month he is not used to having relationships and is socially inadequate as he finds it difficult to fit in. He has been bullied most of his life and only made friends when he went to sixth form. We as parents are not allowed to go in with him when he is being questioned as the police say we are witnesses. The police have had his laptop and phone since May and have found no evidence but they say they cannot give these back as the accusers legal team may want them if it goes to court. The girl concerned has a lot of issues where social services are involved she does not live at home and her dad lives in another county which she does not get on with. I do believe they have no evidence on rape and because she was 15 at the time they are trying to go down this line instead.

I never like every one on here thought this would happen to me and cannot describe how I feel...sorry but I need to stop now this is so upsetting.

[whatsgoingon?]

Hi Coltay - welcome to the forum. I fully sympathise with the situation you and your son are going through .

Firstly, when he was first interviewed, did he have a solicitor with him? He certainly should have when he goes for the interview with the police and any subsequent meetings. If he hasn't got a solicitor he must get one as soon as possible and preferably one who specialises in sexual allegations. I can't stress just how important that is. There's a link under General Information - Specialised solicitors, where people have posted names of solicitors they personally recommend. As he's a student, it's likely that he's eligible for legal aid, though not all solicitors accept it.

Even if what you have been told is correct about going in with your son, he may be entitled to have an 'appropriate adult' with him, someone else close to him or the family. IN ANY CASE - he mustn't go without having a solicitor present, especially as they intend to get him to admit to something he didn't do and doesn't want to admit to. I'd back him 100% on that.

It's a horrible thing to be going through and I'm afraid it may well go on for a while yet. My son's ordeal lasted 15 months from start to finish. Come back here as often as you want to to get information or for support.

Take care

[Coltay]

Why are we not innocent?!

Thank you for your advice it is so kind of you to help. My son does have a lawyer but he has not handled anything like this before so I will be looking for a more experienced lawyer. My son pleaded not guilty to all accounts the police said that the rape had been changed to sex under age. They have now changed his bail date to 13 dec and have told him they will let him know before hand if it will proceed to court or be dropped. My son still believes that if he is innocent there is nothing to worry about!

[Casehardened]

The objective of the triage scheme seems to be to avoid saddling young folk with a CRB entry of their arrest which will affect their job prospects & insurance premiums for the rest of their lives. The disadvantage is:

Triage is only offered if the young people involved admit the offence and show remorse.

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...265/occ106.pdf

Obviously if he admits the lesser charge of underage sex a guilty verdict will follow with an appropriate penalty so WGO's advice regarding getting expert advice before this next meeting with the police is very relevant.

[myhome]

Hi and welcome to the forum but so sorry you have had to find us....your son is a the beginning of what can be a long and traumatic time
Things to remember
- the police are not your son's friends and have conviction targets to meet
- your son must instruct a sol who specialises in this type of case
- the sol is your son's friend - any additional info your son has which could help him build a defence should he ever need it should go to the sol - NOT the police
- sadly it seems that in the British justice system the "innocent till proven guilty" doesn't seem to apply in this kind of case
- your son should only talk to plod if he has a sol with him

you will get lots of help and advice on here....keep strong and keep posting and we will help all we can

[Coltay]

Low day today

My son is having a real low day today he has decided to stay in his room and has told me there is no point in christmas this year ...I am going to try and sort a solicitor with the necessary experience tomorrow. The one we have at the moment is an appointed one by the police so he doesn't actually do any research or collating or meet with my son to go over his case. The police say that they will be sending the report up to the CpS who will then make a decision on either taking it to court or dropping the case. My son has pleaded not guilty to all rape and to having sex under age so the waiting game continues. I am not sure if I mentioned before but this minor is under foster care and the police say that she is not going to let this go away. My husband and I were not aloud to go in with my son initially as the police said we needed to be witnesses so my daughter has been going in with the sol at meetings. The sol has said he can't understand why the police have thrown it out but after reading some of the comments on this site it seems you don't need to have evidence just here say!

Thank you for the advice so far greatly appreciated.

[Rights Fighter]

You say your son has pleaded not guilty

Then you said

The police say that they will be sending the report up to the CpS who will then make a decision on either taking it to court or dropping the case.

Do you mean he has denied everything to the police? Pleading not guilty suggests he's already been to court but from what you say, that hasn't happened yet.

[Coltay]

You say your son has pleaded not guilty

Then you said



Do you mean he has denied everything to the police? Pleading not guilty suggests he's already been to court but from what you say, that hasn't happened yet.

Hi thank you for taking an interest I am sorry I haven't explained very well..my son hasn't been to court yet he had to go into the police station on Friday to answer his bail and the police had offered him triage on a lesser crime to the rape charges they said if he pleaded guilty to heavy petting and not penetrative sex with a minor but my son would not. The police then said that it would go to cps and it will be decided there what will happen next. My son at the time was 17 when he went out with this girl but he is now 18 and classed as an adult.

I have been reading up on falsely accused rape & sexual offences on another site and it is really upsetting how the law works my son is already guilty according to what I have read and it is a case of proving him innocent! I have honestly been in some scary places in my lifetime where I thought this is it but for a mother to go through this is harder than being diagnosed with cancer.

[Rights Fighter]

OK so here we go again - anything to get some sort of sexual offence conviction. The problem with that is this. Your son becomes a self confessed sex offender and the CPS/Police get their conviction (or was it a caution they offered?)

On the other forum we had the mother of a 14 year old lad on there some time ago. His own barrister tried to 'persuade' hi to go guilty 'to ensure a shorter sentence because he will be found guilty on the evidence'. We persuaded his mum to go with the not guilty verdicts and he was found NOT guilty.

Had he gone with the barrister's 'advice' he would be sat in prison right now.

He must maintain his innocence stance otherwise he will have no chance to clear his name one way, or the other.

[Coltay]

Triage offer

OK so here we go again - anything to get some sort of sexual offence conviction. The problem with that is this. Your son becomes a self confessed sex offender and the CPS/Police get their conviction (or was it a caution they offered?)

On the other forum we had the mother of a 14 year old lad on there some time ago. His own barrister tried to 'persuade' hi to go guilty 'to ensure a shorter sentence because he will be found guilty on the evidence'. We persuaded his mum to go with the not guilty verdicts and he was found NOT guilty.

Had he gone with the barrister's 'advice' he would be sat in prison right now.

He must maintain his innocence stance otherwise he will have no chance to clear his name one way, or the other.

It was a caution he was offered but with no guarantees do you know of any experienced sols that I can contact I see there is Chris Saltrese in Southport but I am not sure if it is too far away from where we are I will pay.

[Rights Fighter]

Chris works nationally. We got a not guilty verdict earlier this year in Cornwall. You can't get much further away than that

[Coltay]

Solicitor

Chris works nationally. We got a not guilty verdict earlier this year in Cornwall. You can't get much further away than that

Thank you so much I will get in touch tomorrow and hope that he can take my sons case.

Human kindness is the best present!

[myhome]

Your son will be going through all sorts of unpleasant and traumatic emotions right now - many if not most of which he will have never experienced - and neither should he have to experience them and neither should you....
I can only reassure you that his feelings of despair and that life isn't worth living are what many of us (me included) have felt or are feeling. This is a real real rollercoaster of a time - some days you feel like this is just ridiculous and everything will be fine; then other days, deep black despair takes over and it is so hard to come out of that....
You could encourage your son to see his GP - many of us have found them to be a great support and are gatekeepers to the Community Mental Health Team and other counselling organisations.
However, you must not underestimate the strain this will probably place on you and your relationship with your son. Please take time to consider seeking support for yourself too....keep strong and we'll help all we can

[Coltay]

Roller coaster is so true

Your son will be going through all sorts of unpleasant and traumatic emotions right now - many if not most of which he will have never experienced - and neither should he have to experience them and neither should you....
I can only reassure you that his feelings of despair and that life isn't worth living are what many of us (me included) have felt or are feeling. This is a real real rollercoaster of a time - some days you feel like this is just ridiculous and everything will be fine; then other days, deep black despair takes over and it is so hard to come out of that....
You could encourage your son to see his GP - many of us have found them to be a great support and are gatekeepers to the Community Mental Health Team and other counselling organisations.
However, you must not underestimate the strain this will probably place on you and your relationship with your son. Please take time to consider seeking support for yourself too....keep strong and we'll help all we can

It is a good feeling when you know you are not on your own...this has been a hard year my best friend was diagnosed with bowel cancer and she set up a forum calld the purple train so that every one could support and follow her she kept us all in touch step by step and she kicked cancer ass! She is now in remission which is fantastic news and the end of her ordeal I only hope that I can close this year on another positive note. Thank you so much for your advice and support I need to sort a good solicitor and then I can help my son with counselling, my counselling will be to stay strong for him.

[Rights Fighter]

MyHome attended the trial in Cornwall I mentioned where we got not guilty verdicts and she will be able to tell you how brilliant Tania QC is.