Stepson Falsley Accused Of Rape No Action Taken By Police!

[concerned69]

It has recently come to the attention of my wife & myself that our son (my Stepson) has been accused of rape. My stepson has offered little or no details however as he lives with us we are determined to get to the bottom of this.
We only became aware of the allegation after several individuals approached us asking how our son was coping with the allegation. It seems that the accuser who he has had a brief sexual relationship with, made the allegation in a full public house. It seems that CID were involved & as they have not visited our home or as far as we are aware he has not been arrested have dismissed the allegation.

Our concern is that as we live a small village there will always be an element harbouring "the no smoke without fire" attitude. We would ideally like to press this despicable individual to issue a written apology. What is our recourse through a solicitor?, we are not seeking compensation, just an indication that the allegation was made completely falsley. We look forward to your advice.

[Saffron]

Hi there

I am not sure what you can do to bring about a written apology, but in the first instance, I would encourage you to make absolutely certain that CID/the CPS are not proceeding with the case. It can sometimes take a while for them to get round to interviewing someone, even for such a serious accusation as rape. If your son's accuser reported the assault to the police then he will almost certainly be arrested and questioned - the police have a duty to investigate such a serious accusation. Unless of course she admitted immediately that she had made it up.

It seems to me that you know very little about the allegation, and that your son has not been very forthcomong with the details. (this is quite comon, of course. My husband managed to hide his false accusation from me for 3 months). But before you decide to take any action, please make sure you know exactly what happened.

If the police are not proceeding with the case, it could be for any number of reasons. She may have admitted to having fabricated the assault; she may not be considered a reliable enough witness, or there may not be enough evidence.

If the case is not being pursued because there is not enough evidence, or because she is not a credible witness, then I would say there is very little you can do. However, if it is not going forward because she has admitted making up the rape, then you can most certainly take action.

You could either push the police to charge her with wasting police time and attempting to pervert the course of justice. They may well be reluctant to do this, but you can take your case to the IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Commission) and they are duty-bound to investigate.

Alternatively, you could instruct a solicitor to write to her asking for a written apology, and stating that you will take a civil case if she does not. A legal letter may be enough to alarm her into admitting the false allegation.

I understand your concerns about the "no smoke without fire" element, as I live in a small rural community myself, and my husband's case was all over the local papers when he was falsely convicted and then imprisoned. However, I would say that if people are your true friends, they will support you. If they do not support you, they are not your true friends. It sounds flip, but it is true.

good luck. I really hope that you can secure some sort of apology. This kind of thing is far more prevalent than most people would ever imagine, and the more that can be done to highlight it, the better.

[Rights Fighter]

You also need to be aware that just because the police have done nothing this does not mean they have dumped the case. I've known cases where the police have known about an allegation and not approached the "suspect" for a number of reasons.

Try not to rest on your laurels just yet as this could be a waiting game on behalf of the police.

I would not advise having a solicitors letter sent just yet (sorry Saffron!) because from what you have said the matter has not yet been formally dropped. A solicitor's letter at this stage could be viewed as intimidation.

If you feel you need regular advice, assistance and support please feel free to go to www.pafaa.org.uk and join our forum/chat room from there. You will need to join "globally" first and then when asked which community you wish to join type in PAFAA with SOFAP.

Kind regards

RF

[Saffron]

Quite right Rights Fighter!
Just to clarify, my intention was that a solicitors letter should only be sent if you are absolutely certain that the case is not going ahead. if you are not 100% certain that the matter has been dropped, you should make no attempt whatsoever to contact your son's accuser. As RF quite rightly said, this could be viewed as intimidation.

Good luck!