April 10, 1999: At Sandusky, Ohio, the 11 year old Nicole DuPont is attacked by a man who is clearly intent on raping her. At least, that was her initial claim.
This is a false allegation only of attempted rape but is included here because it was so outrageous. And credible.
Nicole claims a man jumped on her and tried to unzip her pants (trousers in real English). Her two young friends who helped fight off the attacker tell the same story.
Ricky Johnson is arrested and released on a $15,000 bond, May 5. He has previous convictions but not for sex crimes.
The girls repeat their allegations to a grand jury, then on July 23, Nicole attends a police station with her mother. She had apparently watched some sort of TV programme on religion and became convinced she would go to Hell unless she told the truth. Amazing.
She is charged with perjury and filing a false police report; the other two are also charged with false reporting. One of them said she had never seen Johnson before.
Should they have been charged in view of their age and the circumstances? That wasn’t my decision, but this is yet another incredible tale of...choose your own word.
According to NewsBank, the article below by staff writer Mike Gruss appeared in the CITY FINAL Edition, page 9.
File this one under WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH KIDS TODAY? and NONE DARE CALL IT CONSPIRACY.
See also the strikingly similar cases from Garden Grove, California, 2003 and Surrey, 2006.
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