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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse in NZ |
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Hamilton police will
decide this week whether to charge two women who made separate false rape
complaints at the weekend. Detective Sergeant
Nigel Keall said police spent time and resources investigating the women's
complaints. "It's just a waste
of resources that could have been used elsewhere." Both complaints were
lodged on Friday. One was made by an
18-year-old and the other by a 19-year-old. Senior investigators
estimate that between 60 and 80 per cent of rape complaints made by women are
false. Mr Keall said false
complaints tainted the community's perception of sexual offending and the
genuine victims who needed support. He said there was also
a difference between people making complaints of stranger rapes and making
allegations against a specific person, which could sometimes be malicious. In the case of the
Friday complainants, "obviously there are provisions to charge them with
various offences or they may just be warned, but there's still a few
inquiries to be done to establish exactly why the complaints have been made
and that will have a large bearing on the result."
The woman, who made the
complaint just three days after historic allegations of rape were levelled
against three police officers by Louise Nicholas of Rotorua, was convicted in
June. Judge Robert Spear, who
heard the case in the Hamilton District Court, found the woman's allegations
were fabricated and bizarre. |
