A teenage girl who claimed to be the victim of a rape is now being charged with making the whole thing up.
The 14-year-old student was at an arts camp, practicing at Newton High School. She excused herself Friday to use the restroom. When she returned, she allegedly told the teacher that while washing her hands, a man wearing all black had grabbed her from behind, threw her to the ground and sexually assaulted her. She was able to escape by "mule kicking" him, according to what she told investigators.
Law enforcement was called and immediately began searching the area for the assailant and any evidence available, but was unable to locate either. The teen was checked out by EMS and later received treatment at the hospital, including a rape kit.
Tuesday afternoon, the teen's mother contacted investigators and reportedly told them her daughter had admitted to making the whole thing up as a joke for Friday the 13th. She is now being charged with false report of a crime, a misdemeanor.
"There were a lot of resources used in this case," said Newton County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Cortney Morrison. "Manpower, money, time... We take any allegation of criminal activity seriously and we will exhaust all the resources available to find out who committed the crime. But when someone makes up a crime it takes away time from us investigating those that were really committed... When allegations of a serious nature like this are made, the whole community becomes involved this is a very serious allegation."