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Allegations
of Sexual Abuse in NZ |
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Police are seeking
nearly $5000 from a woman they claim wasted their time over a false rape
complaint. The case highlights a dilemma
for police, who do not want to discourage women from reporting sexual abuse. But they say that when
an accusation is blatantly untrue, they will lay a charge of making a false
complaint and seek reparation for investigation costs. Detective Senior
Sergeant Richard Middleton, of the Manukau Crime Squad, said that of 75
sexual complaints in his area since Christmas, about 10 were believed fake. "But we would only
charge them with making a false complaint where the complaint was clearly
false," he said. A handful of women have
faced prosecution. One claimed she had
been kidnapped, raped and locked in the boot of a car. Police sought
reparation from her to cover about 40 hours of police time at $80 an hour,
plus medical expenses, which can be up to $1500. In the current case,
which has yet to come to court, it is understood police want the woman to pay
for more that 50 hours of officers’ time plus medical expenses. Mr Middleton said
detectives sometimes interviewed women who spun a web of lies to "cover
up indiscretions" or simply to seek publicity. He said police took
complaints of this "abhorrent crime" very seriously, but false
complaints were "not acceptable". |
