Police: Woman made up story about sex attack on bike path

[The Straight Story]

WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. -

Winter Springs police said on Wednesday that a woman made up a story about being sexually assaulted by two men on a bike path.

Police said officers were called to the Cross Seminole Trail pedestrian bridge at State Road 434 in connection with an alleged sexual assault of a 19-year-old woman.

Police said they were informed that two Hispanic men attacked the woman, but discovered after an investigation that a crime did not occur.

Police said that the woman had self-inflicted wounds and was taken involuntarily to a hospital under the Baker Act, which allows authorities to hold someone for up to 72 hours.

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Police-Woman-made-up-story-about-sex-attack-on-bike-path/-/1637132/7635774/-/etifhuz/-/index.html

What is a Baker Act?

A Baker Act is a means of providing individuals with emergency services and temporary detention for mental health evaluation and treatment when required, either on a voluntary or an involuntary basis.

How are voluntary and involuntary Baker Act Admissions different?

A voluntary Baker Act is when a person 18 years of age or older, or a parent or guardian of a person age 17 or under, makes application for admission to a facility for observation, diagnosis or treatment.

An involuntary Baker Act is when a person is taken to a receiving facility for involuntary examination when there is reason to believe that he or she is mentally ill and because of his or her mental illness, the person has refused voluntary examination; the person is unable to determine for himself or herself whether examination is necessary and without care or treatment, the person is likely to suffer from neglect or refuse to care for himself or herself and such refusal could pose a threat of harm to his or her well being; and there is a substantial likelihood that without care or treatment, the person will cause serious bodily harm to himself, herself or others in the near future as evidenced by recent behavior.

http://www.clerk.co.okeechobee.fl.us/Baker_act.htm

[Scuba]

1. See? They're all made up. See? See?

Who will say it first, Rush, Billo or Hanutty?

[LadyHawkAZ]

2. It's reached the point where if it's reported in the news at all

it's gonna be a false or suspicious report. The sole exception I can think of lately has been Lara Logan- a member of the media.

I'm sure there's more, but there's been so many reported "fakes" lately that it's starting to look deliberate.

[Motown_Johnny]

3. assuming this is a white woman

falsely accusing persons of color



I think they will all ignore this.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

4. Wasting police time isn't *that* big a deal.

There's a world of difference between victimless crimes like this one and cases where *someone* is falsely accused of rape, I think. The latter should always result in a serious jail sentence; in this case it sounds like the woman probably just needs help.