Texas teen who 'cried rape' could face 32 years' jail
A Texas teen who ran into a church half-naked claiming she was raped has been charged for what turned out to be a hoax.
Breana Harmon, also known as Breana Harmon-Talbott, 19, turned up at the local church covered in blood and wearing a shirt, bra and underwear on March 8.
It’s alleged she told parishioners that three black men wearing ski masks had taken her into the woods and two of them raped her while the third held her down, according to the Herald Democrat.
Police found her car with a door open and her phone, keys and shoe scattered nearby after they responded to reports Harmon had gone missing about 5.11pm.
She told police she had been kidnapped near her car in an apartment parking lot, taken to the woods and raped, but managed to get away to New Creation Church at 8pm.
Police examined a pair of jeans Harmon said she found near a rundown house as she was fleeing the men.
Investigators identified a long, vertical cut on the front of the jeans with small bloodstains on the fabric. They also found two smoked Marlboro cigarettes, including one with a bloodstain, and a Marlboro cigarette pack containing one unsmoked cigarette. Dried blood was also observed on the concrete foundation of the dilapidated house and on both sides of a broken piece of glass at the scene.
Harmon could not explain why the cuts in the jeans did not match the wounds on her thighs.
Police also determined the crime scene was staged and Harmon’s injuries were self-inflicted.
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She also admitted the allegations were false, but it’s not known what prompted her.
She was arrested in March for the misdemeanour offence of false report to a police officer but police have since charged her with two counts of tampering with a government record and two of tampering with physical evidence.
“Breana Harmon-Talbott’s hoax was also insulting to our community and especially offensive to the African-American community due to her description of the so-called suspects in her hoax,” Denison Police Chief Jay Burch said.
“The anger and hurt caused from such a hoax are difficult and all so unnecessary.”
If convicted, Harmon could face 32 years’ jail.
