Bucks County woman's false accusation could stop sex assault victims from coming forward: officials
MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP, Pa. - A 20-year-old woman is out on bail after investigators say she admitted to lying about an attempted rape and kidnapping in the parking lot of a grocery store in Middletown last month.
The father of the man accused told FOX 29's Kelly Rule that the whole ordeal has been horrible not only for his son, but for the entire family.
There’s also an impact on the community, and on how current and future victims of sexual assault crimes feel about coming forward.
"It’s a horrible thing to make up, horrible."
Susanne McHale had concerns about shopping in the Langhorne Square shopping center after police announced an arrest for an attempted rape and kidnapping in Redner’s parking lot.
Only to find out this week that 20-year-old Anjela Borisova Urumova fabricated the entire story, according to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office.
"It’s terrible for other customers that were probably in fear, including myself, coming, and then it’s terrible for the poor accuser to be accused of something he didn’t do," McHale said. "It is damaging, it’s a bad thing all around. It shouldn’t be done."
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According to court documents, Urumova gave police a description of a man's truck and identified him as her attacker back in April.
But when confronted by detectives on Friday, officials say she admitted to lying about the attempted rape and kidnapping.
She said she named him because she had previously seen him and his truck in the shopping center and thought he was "creepy," court documents state.
The man was originally charged with multiple felonies and spent 31 days in jail. He has since been freed, and all charges withdrawn.
"Sexual assault is one of the most traumatic things a person can go through. It takes tremendous courage to come forward," said Edward Louka, first assistant district attorney for Bucks County. "These allegations were absolutely false."
Louka says the wrongly-accused man’s exoneration is the result of taking all allegations of sexual assault seriously, but also seeing the investigation through to the end.
And the district attorney's office plans to take the case against Urumova just as seriously.
The 20-year-old woman has been charged with false alarm to an agency of public safety, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, false reports and unsworn falsification to authorities.
"Cases like this feed into, I guess, the stereotype or notion that true victims that have truly been traumatized and victimized might not be telling the truth" says Louka. "If this stops even one person, the victim, from coming forward, that’s irreparable harm as well."