Woman sues police who failed to believe she was raped
LYNNWOOD-- A woman is suing a local police department after two police officers failed to believe a stranger broke into her apartment, gagged her and raped her in the summer of 2008, insisting she instead recant her story.
According to the Seattle Times, the woman -- known only in documents as D.M. --nwas sleeping in her home on August 11, 2008 when she woke up to find a man standing over her bed with a butcher knife. The man gagged her, tied her hands behind her back and raped her, she said.
However, when she called to report the rape, the two police who investigated her story --Jerrry Rittgarn and Jeff Mason, coerced her into recanting, the suit alleges. The woman was charged with false reporting and fined $500.
The woman was 18 years old at the time of the rape.
In 2011, Marc O'Leary was arrested for several rapes in Colorado and sentenced to 327 years in prison. Police found the Lynnwood women's ID on O'Leary's person, leading her to believe the O'Leary had raped others when he lived in Washington.
Last week, the woman filed a civil-rights lawsuit against Lynnwood, alleging two officers"bullied her" into recanting her tale and threatened to throw her out of her apartment if she continued with the "lie". The lawsuit alleges the police officers ignored DNA specimens taken by doctors at the hospital, physical evidence gathered at the house and insisted she recant her story.
The officers' suspicions, the Seattle Times reported, was based on three character witnesses who said the woman lied about the rape. They also alleged the victim would not look the officers in the eyes and repeatedly said she "believed" she was raped.
After she initially recanted her story, she was forced to undergo therapy and stand up in front of other program participants and say she had lied about being raped.
For more on this Seattle Times story, click here.