Teen sexually assaulted on Kal-Haven Trail

[My Opinion]

James wrote:

The thing that's got me confused though is in the earlier story, it says
"A K-9 unit was arrived at the scene and tracked the suspect to Walnut Street in Bloomingdale where the scent ended."
Okay.. so what exactly was the K-9 unit(police dog) scenting on? Presumably it would've been an article of the girl's clothing, right? If so, then she was will to get a friend in trouble, if caught?
There's just something still missing to this story - how do we know it was made up? What's the evidence? Did the girl admit it? Or do the police just say it's made up because they can't figure it out?

I am guessing she was on the trail with her boyfriend. Afraid of getting caught she made up the story.

[Tim]

hnhmom wrote:

<quoted text>... in this case you have to say guilty until proven innocent. you just can't take that chance.

This is a scary post. You want to live in a society that says guilty until proven innocent??? How about if I were to call the police and accuse you of a crime - murder, sexual abuse of a child, etc. The burden is then on YOU to prove your innocence. If you can't provide an alibi for that day then oh well, you get to spend life in prison.

[Tim]

One other thought:
Let's give credit to the police departments involved in the recent cases (i.e. Marne trash picker case etc) for uncovering the truth. They deserve our thanks and credit for doing a good job.

[Gentle Taz]

hnhmom wrote:

<quoted text>why does everyone automatically assume she is lying. the sad reality is that this stuff does really happen. and unfortunately you do get the ones that lie for attention but in this case you have to say guilty until proven innocent. you just can't take that chance.

Guilty until proven innocent?? You have to be kidding me!! It's innocent till proven guilty for a reason, that being that it is practically impossible to prove a negative. We would have to buildmany more prisons to hold all the innocent people that could not prove their innocence.

[Gentle Taz]

Tim wrote:

<quoted text>
This is a scary post. You want to live in a society that says guilty until proven innocent??? How about if I were to call the police and accuse you of a crime - murder, sexual abuse of a child, etc. The burden is then on YOU to prove your innocence. If you can't provide an alibi for that day then oh well, you get to spend life in prison.

An alibi might not even do it for you then. There are some people in prison right now who had an alibi, but the jury chose not to believe the testimony. The innocence project just recently managed to get a man released who was imprisoned just that way. It took a DNA test of another man who admitted committing the crime to finally get him freed.

[Nadia_80]

she made it up wrote:

<quoted text>
Guess what? I WAS RIGHT!!! Think before you write!

Don't act like a child. The point is that you, along with others, jumped immediately to the conclusion that she was lying. What happens when your daughter or grandchild comes to you with the same 'tale'? Benefit of the doubt.

[Nadia_80]

Lakeshore wrote:

<quoted text>
OH, so now you want evidence? I'm sure they said they needed to do a lie detecter or something that scared her into telling the truth. The police wouldn't have put out the first press release if they thought they might not be able to figure it out. They could have put someone in jail over her words, not evidence, just like the recent story of that lady doing 20years or something. YOu should have been asking about evidence when this story first broke, what a joke!

When a crime happens it is investigated in order to find evidence that supports a claim. A claim was made, evidence was found (the dog and the scent) and the investigation commenced. OH, WOW, AHHH.....you seem awfully surprised in many of your posts...LOL.

[Jane doe]

Gentle Taz wrote:

<quoted text>
Guilty until proven innocent?? You have to be kidding me!! It's innocent till proven guilty for a reason, that being that it is practically impossible to prove a negative. We would have to buildmany more prisons to hold all the innocent people that could not prove their innocence.

It is sad but Guilty until proven innocent is the way things are now. That is why the prisons are so over crowded now. Look at all the earlier post. As soon as they heard this they were ready to hang this guy from a tree, not even hearing the whole story or the guys side of this. All it takes now days is for a girl to say this and a innocent person's life is ruined. I am glad that in this case it did not come to that, and I am also glad that this did not happen to this girl.

[Lakeshore]

Nadia_80 wrote:

<quoted text>
When a crime happens it is investigated in order to find evidence that supports a claim. A claim was made, evidence was found (the dog and the scent) and the investigation commenced. OH, WOW, AHHH.....you seem awfully surprised in many of your posts...LOL.

The dog finding a scent isn't evidence. It might lead them to evidence but it didn't, why? BECAUSE THE GIRL MADE IT UP. I am very surprized at some of these comments, including yours. Very quick to judge you seem. lol

[Wyming_Bob]

BLOOMINGDALE, Mich.(WOOD)-- Investigators say a report from a 13-year-old girl who said she was sexually assaulted on a local trail is false.
The Van Buren County Sheriff's Office says the incident did not occur, and the girl fabricated the story. The case is still being investigated and the report will be forwarded to the juvenile court, where a petition for filing a false felony police report will be requested.

[Gentle Taz]

Jane doe wrote:

<quoted text>
It is sad but Guilty until proven innocent is the way things are now. That is why the prisons are so over crowded now. Look at all the earlier post. As soon as they heard this they were ready to hang this guy from a tree, not even hearing the whole story or the guys side of this. All it takes now days is for a girl to say this and a innocent person's life is ruined. I am glad that in this case it did not come to that, and I am also glad that this did not happen to this girl.

That's the way many of the people on these forums operate.Luckily, our courts, for the most part, do not, although many of the people working for CPS do operate that way, going by the premise that a child is not able to make up a credible story when accusing someone. However, since many of these "children" are sexually active, it is very likely the "child" will have sufficient knowledge to do that.The sad angle to that is that some courts still will almost always believe CPS personnel over anyone else.

[leofromdaup]

What?? So, it never happened??

[froggy log]

I knew it. She made it up. For some reason I didn't trust it.

[rval2]

leofromdaup wrote:

What?? So, it never happened??

Where did you get that information?

[froggy log]

Why would a kid make something like this up? My guess is she is horny!

[froggy log]

Fudge That Noise wrote:

Hey - the important thing is, some girl got taught not to go running. She ought to be in the kitchen, working on her cooking skills!
I'm kidding.

hahah. But, That oven will make her hot to trot.

[toby]

13 years old she should know better, this girl needs to be punished severely, what a waste of time for so many people, hope her parents are proud of that little brat, probably learning from her surroundings as they say the apple doesnt fall far from the tree

[Mr Obvious]

To anyone who read the original story (and paid attention to detail) and thought this was a true story, I can only say Dee de de

[OMG]

Here's my question, the police must really think shes lying about this, they are sending a report to the juvy courts, for filing a false police report. SO like it says things didnt add up, but if this girl said she lied maybe out of fear, does this mean another freak on the streets?
My children sometimes go there to visit their family members. I think maybe the police should at least warn the public about this, my children are never out alone, but if the freak is crazy enough to hurt this girl in the day, what makes anyone think he wont break in a house and find a child while they are sleeping, and yes that can happen, remember little jessica in florida, elizabeth in i believe it was Utah, these kidnappings happend at night while parents were sleeping. I just wish we as citizens of the US of A could have a right to know if we should be alarmed.

[Lakeshore]

OMG wrote:

Here's my question, the police must really think shes lying about this, they are sending a report to the juvy courts, for filing a false police report. SO like it says things didnt add up, but if this girl said she lied maybe out of fear, does this mean another freak on the streets?
My children sometimes go there to visit their family members. I think maybe the police should at least warn the public about this, my children are never out alone, but if the freak is crazy enough to hurt this girl in the day, what makes anyone think he wont break in a house and find a child while they are sleeping, and yes that can happen, remember little jessica in florida, elizabeth in i believe it was Utah, these kidnappings happend at night while parents were sleeping. I just wish we as citizens of the US of A could have a right to know if we should be alarmed.

You can't tell from the updated story that there never was "a freak"? No clue what you are talking about. I think your kids are safe to visit their family unless they are friends with the girl that lied about this whole thing, then I'd prolly keep a good eye on them when they are in town. Would suck if your kids had to go to juvy until they are 18 because this girl said they touched her or something.