why would a girl falsely accuse my son?

[BritInFrance]

I am British but live in France. My 17 year old son who lives with me has been accused of rape by a girl with whom he spent 20 minutes alone in her appartment after bringing her back from a school party. A conviction of rape in France carries a minimum 7 year prison sentence so this is very serious. We have been lucky that the Embassy has helped us find a binational lawyer who speaks English but understands French law and procedure which is quite specific (including the fact that my son was remanded in police custody for 48 hours without my being able to talk and interact with him which was the worse experience as a mother). My question is not of a legal nature but rather psychological : we have his word against hers ( she claims rape he says there was heavy petting but no more) she has not produced medical evidence, they are schoolmates but not romantically linked, and the police report says that she seems balanced, sound of mind, with no family issues ... why would she bring this false accusation, and press charges (we understand she went alone without her parents as she is over 18) when as a French national, and with a father who is a lawyer, she knows what it will mean for my son?
Has anyone got insights from their personal experience?

[Scottishandscared]

Hello, sorry I can't offer any advice.

We don't know why this girl has made these accusations unfortunately, I have a thread here about my brothers case and we feel very strongly that she (his ex partner) made malicious allegations because my brother moved on got married and had a baby.
It was then that she contacted the police.

Reading these threads I see a lot of situations where the female accuser has been angry about something unrelated/jealous/bitter/scorned.

The ones that really blow my mind are the ones with no apparent reason. That leads me to wonder if they are feeling shame or regret about any actions that took place between them? Could this be a possibility? Did he upset her in anyway, perhaps stopped contact and she wanted more?
Was she late home and needed a reason? Was she embarrassed? None of which of course are any excuse to make such horrific statements.

There's many possibilities and I hate to say it but I do now believe some people are just morally wrong and like to cause trouble and receive attention.

I wish you and your son well.