A conundrum, re: false rape charges

the man she accused, Shannon Hudson, was jailed for two months last year before Denham admitted she lied.

On the one hand, it’s good to see that women who ruin men’s lives with false rape accusations are at least sometimes punished for it. But on the other hand I wonder if punishing them does more harm than good.

In this case, the woman’s conscience got the better of her, thank goodness. And she was (in her own attorney’s words) “not the most sophisticated young woman”. What happens when more “sophisticated” false accusers see this kind of thing? My guess is that it isn’t going to encourage them to come out with the truth.

The incentive here is similar to that of taking a tiger by the tail: once you start down the path of a false accusation, you’d better stand by that accusationor find yourself in prison.

I almost wonder if we should extend some kind of amnesty in cases like this, just to encourage more false victims to confess. At least then the men wouldn’t be imprisoned or have lives permanently poisoned by sex offender status.

What to do?

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2 Comments

  1. but by lightening the laws on false testimony, you’re making it more appealing for people to lie in court.

  2. Indeed. It’s a nasty little problem.

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