If you know that you have been falsely accused of a sex crime, you should:
- get an experienced criminal defense lawyer,
- understand the allegations being made,
- gather evidence of the alleged incident, and
- prepare a legal defense.
You should NOT ignore the claims simply because you know they are wrong. You should also avoid contact with the accuser.
1. Get a criminal defense attorney
The first thing to do is hire a criminal defense attorney with experience handling sex crime cases. Just because you know that the allegations are false does not mean that everyone else does. The best way to prove that they are false is to hire a skilled lawyer who knows how to prove that they are false.
The criminal defense lawyers at our law firm have found that lots of people who know that the sex crime allegations against them are false do not act. They often think that law enforcement will realize that the accuser is wrong. However, your accuser is only presenting evidence to them that supports their claim against you.
It is up to you to show that you are being falsely accused.
2. Understand the allegations
The second thing to do is to understand the allegations fully. This includes:
- determining exactly which sex offenses you are being accused of committing,
- figuring out where and when they are alleged to have happened,
- isolating inconsistencies in the allegations,
- finding information that is missing in the accusation, and
- deciding which legal defense strategy is the best for your case.
If a police report was filed, get a copy of it.
3. Gather evidence to undermine the false allegations
Next, you should gather evidence that shows the allegations against you are false. In the past, our criminal defense lawyers have used:
- character witnesses that can attest to your good reputation, or to your accuser’s dishonesty,
- your lack of a history for sexual misconduct, such as sexual harassment in the workplace,
- prior false allegations that your accuser has made against others,
- expert witnesses to explain why your accuser might be making false claims against you, such as if they have a particular mental health issue that can lead to false memories,
- evidence that your accuser is acting out of revenge or with some other motive, and
- anything that indicates that you were not where the alleged sex crime occurred when it purportedly happened (also known as an alibi defense).
You should also write down everything that you know about the alleged incident. This is most important if you and your accuser were being intimate, but their version of events is very different from what happened.
4. Prepare a legal defense
Taking all of these steps puts you in a good position to prepare your legal defense strategy. This should be tailored to your circumstances, interests, and the facts of your case.
Our sex crime defense team has found that the most commonly used defense strategies are:
- false accusations,
- alibi,
- consent, and
- misidentification.
It is not uncommon to use more than one of these in a given case.
False accusations
Probably the most common line of defense in these cases is to focus on the allegations and raise reasonable doubts that they are accurate. This often involves:
- stressing how the inconsistent nature of the allegations suggests that they are not accurate depictions of what happened,
- the accuser has a history or lying or making things up, and
- your accuser has a motive for making false allegations of a sex crime, like getting leverage over you during a divorce or to retaliate against you.
Alibi
A powerful line of defense is an alibi. This argues that you could not have committed the sex crime because you were somewhere else. This defense strategy requires evidence that you were, indeed, somewhere else. This can be:
- witness testimony from someone you were with,
- a receipt from a purchase far away,
- cell phone location data, or
- surveillance footage with you in it.
The sex crimes lawyers at our law office have found that making an alibi defense often leads to accusers changing the timeline of their story. This can then be used as a sign that they are making it up.
Consent
Many sex crime accusations involve intercourse that actually did happen, but which was consensual. By falsely claiming that there was no consent, your accuser is claiming that the sex act was a criminal one.
Proving that it was, in fact, consensual can be difficult. In the past, our defense team has used the following types of evidence to show that there was consent:
- text messages and other communications between you and your accuser from both before and after the incident that suggests there was consent,
- testimony from others who heard about the incident, and
- prior incidents in your relationship.
Misidentification
A rare, but strong defense is that the accuser has misidentified you as their assailant. In these cases, the accuser’s story may be true, but you had no role in it.
This legal defense is very similar to the alibi defense.
What NOT to do if you have been accused of sexual assault
There are several things that you should NOT do if you have been falsely accused of a sexual offense. These include:
- doing nothing and expecting the case to go away on its own,
- destroying evidence that makes the false story seem true,
- talking to law enforcement without your lawyer present,
- contacting the alleged victim or accuser,
- venting about your predicament on social media, and
- fleeing the state or country.
Doing some of these things can make it seem like the false allegations are true. Doing some others can lead to criminal charges for:
- witness tampering,
- destroying evidence,
- obstruction of justice, and/or
- violating a restraining order.
Why people make false sex crime claims
People may falsely claim that they have been the victim of a sex crime in order to:
- gain leverage over you, often to get child custody in a heated divorce,
- retaliate against you for something you did, or
- make you scared or angry.
According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center:
Between 2 and 10 percent of sexual assault cases are false reports.[1]
If you are one of these innocent people facing false accusations of sexual assault, you need effective legal representation.
Penalties of a conviction
It is extremely important to take these criminal cases seriously and get the legal advice of legal counsel. The penalties of a conviction are severe. They depend on which sex crime charges you are facing, like those for:
- sexual assault,
- domestic violence,
- rape, or
- child sexual abuse.
Some of these carry prison terms of over a decade. Many require you to register as a sex offender.
Defamation lawsuit
Defamation is when someone intentionally makes a false statement that harms your reputation.[2] If you have been accused of a sex crime, you may be able to sue your accuser for defamation if you can show that the allegation was false and was intentionally made.
Legal Citations:
[1] National Sexual Violence Resource Center, “Statistics In-Depth.”
[2] See, e.g., California Civil Jury Instructions (CACI) No. 1704.
