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Woman who cried ‘rape’ may have to pay back county
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Related Topics: FOSTER CITY
FOSTER CITY (Map, News) - The San Mateo woman who will be serving 90 days in county jail for a false rape report in June may also be required to repay the county agencies that spent time and resources investigating her false claims.
On Monday, 24-year-old Karyn Adele Galila pleaded no contest to one count of filing a false police report, a misdemeanor, Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.
She was charged with two counts of filing false reports for her initial claim and a subsequent follow-up interview with a detective and a district attorney in which she again told the rape story.
Wagstaffe said the single plea was enough to satisfy both counts. The charge carries a jail term of 90 days. The final amount to be paid back will be determined Feb. 26.
Foster City Police Department Cpt. Jon Froomin told The Examiner that the investigation cost the department at least $4,000. In addition, the department was also charged $700 for a rape examination by the San Mateo Medical Center’s Keller Center.
“If a sexual-assault survivor comes forward and has a mistake of fact for whatever reason, we’re not going to prosecute them for that. But if someone comes forward and abuses the system, we’re going to hold them accountable,” Froomin said.
On June 12, Galila reported that she had been assaulted by three men on Foster City Boulevard at approximately 9 p.m..
According to her story, three men offered to help her after her Jeep broke down, and she was forced out of the car at gunpoint and raped in a grassy area.
Evidence found in her vehicle led officers to one of the suspects, Robert Salapuddin, who was arrested on prior warrants from San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
During questioning, he told investigators he had not committed the assault, but had been at a local restaurant with the alleged victim at the time of the attack. She subsequently confirmed his story. Police said no sexual contact occurred between the two.
“Our belief is that the reason she made this false report related to family matters, trying to avoid coming up with an explanation for where she was,” Wagstaffe said.
Comments from Examiner Readers
12:23 PM MST on Thu., Feb. 28, 2008 re: "Woman who cried ‘rape’ may have to pay back county"
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8:32 PM MST on Sun., Jan. 6, 2008
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11:39 AM MST on Wed., Jan. 2, 2008
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11:32 AM MST on Wed., Jan. 2, 2008
re: "Woman who cried ‘rape’ may have to pay back county"
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Examiner Reader said:
I do think there is an error in the jail sentence. The woman, Karyn Adele Galila, should serve the same time in jail as would the accused if he was convicted. This woman hates men if she invented this type of story.
69 agree | 67 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Sad topic but great story. More women need to be charged for making false rape claims. I hope this story gets lots of publicity.
92 agree | 90 disagree
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Your Daddy! said:
A false allegation of a crime should carry the same sentence as the alleged crime itself. If it was alleged out of hatred then tack on the hate crime sentence as well. If that does not make sense you are either a lawyer,an idiot or a woman.
105 agree | 106 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
This is the only way to deal with this type of crime - i.e false rape accusations. They DO happen, and it's increasingly common. Women and legislators have to be more willing to challenge the feminist notion that women never lie about rape. As this case shows, they most definitely do.
94 agree | 85 disagree
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