WHEN AN Accuser, (Nikki Yovino/Mary Zolkowski) Cries Wolf.
Recently, a female college student from Long Island, New York, [Nikki Yovino] was sentenced to one year in prison for falsely reporting to the police that she was sexually assaulted by two male students at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Until recently, Title IX complainants who lodged false claims of sexual misconduct have done so largely with impunity. The Sacred Heart case illustrates a turning point in the campus sexual assault dialogue. It marks one of the first cases in which a court severely punished a female college student for a false accusation of sexual assault. While female students have previously been prosecuted for false reports of sexual assault, they have typically received sentences of probation. Not anymore. In addition to the Sacred Heart case, it was just reported that a Michigan judge sentenced a woman [Mary Zolkowski] to forty-five days in jail for falsely reporting that she was raped in a parking lot at Delta College near Bay City, Michigan. Whether in the criminal justice system or in campus proceedings, false allegations destroy lives – especially allegations as serious as sexual assault. Monetary settlements intended to compensate for reputational harm address only a portion of the impact of false accusations. However, complacency to this injustice is not the answer. The falsely accused should seek remedies available to them by the law.
kjk.com By Susan Stone and Kristina Supler
