A 25-year-old Stanford College worker was arrested Wednesday and charged with felony perjury for allegedly mendacity about being raped twice final 12 months on campus, authorities mentioned.
Jennifer Ann Gries, of Santa Clara, first reported a false sexual assault in August when she informed a nurse at Valley Medical Middle in San Jose {that a} man grabbed her whereas she was at a campus car parking zone, dragged her to a restroom and sexually assaulted her, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office said.
In accordance with the DA’s workplace, she described the assailant as “a Black male, slender, younger, 6ft, late 20s”.
In October she went to Stanford Hospital to get one other rape examination and informed the nurse conducting the examination that she was returning to her workplace from lunch when a person grabbed her arm, pressured her right into a basement storage closet and raped her, prosecutors mentioned. She once more declined to talk with police, they mentioned.
Gries additionally claimed that she turned pregnant with twins however suffered a miscarriage, authorities mentioned.
“The investigation revealed that she was not pregnant at the moment,” the DA’s workplace mentioned.
Each of Gries’ sexual assault examination kits had been analyzed rapidly “given the acute public security threat of a possible intercourse offender,” prosecutors mentioned, including that the lab outcomes “weren’t constant along with her story.”
Jeff Chiu / AP
On each events she signed a consent type acknowledging the nurse was a mandated reporter who should inform legislation enforcement of the assault and signed types to get public funds, prosecutors mentioned.
Authorities didn’t say how a lot cash Gries acquired, however candidates to the California Sufferer of Crimes Board can qualify for a most of $70,000, in keeping with this system’s compensation benefit reference guide.
In January, throughout an interview with a District Legal professional’s Workplace investigator, Gries is alleged to have admitted to mendacity in regards to the rapes and written an apology letter to the person who was the goal of her allegations.
“She acknowledged she was upset with the sufferer as a result of she felt he gave her ‘false intention’ and turned her mates towards her,” prosecutors mentioned.
Gries was charged with two felony counts of perjury and two misdemeanor counts of constructing a false crime report back to nurses at two completely different hospitals, prosecutors mentioned. It was not instantly recognized if she had an lawyer who might converse on her behalf.
In a statement, Stanford mentioned Gries was positioned on a depart of absence and the college “shall be reviewing her employment.”
“These false reviews are damaging, each for true survivors of sexual assault and for the members of our group who skilled concern and alarm from the reviews,” the college mentioned, whereas including that false reviews in sexual assault instances are uncommon.
“Sexual assault and different sexual offenses regrettably proceed to be prevalent each at Stanford and in our broader society,” the varsity mentioned. “Our steadfast dedication to offer compassionate help for survivors of sexual assault and to stop these acts from occurring within the first place stays unabated.”
Santa Clara County District Legal professional Jeff Rosen known as the alleged false rape reviews “a uncommon and deeply harmful crime” and mentioned he felt for many who are falsely accused, for the scholars who needed to look over their shoulders and for the “professional sexual assault victims who marvel if they are going to be believed.”
The rape reviews led Stanford College police to concern campus-wide digital alerts, which prompted widespread fear and a protest in October by lots of of scholars who marched to demand college officers do extra to guard college students.
Investigators additionally discovered Gries had filed a sexual harassment criticism in March 2022 towards a male coworker with the college’s human sources division, which discovered the allegation was unfounded, prosecutors mentioned. The co-worker match the outline Gries gave the nurses she reported the rapes to, they mentioned.
Gries is listed on the college’s web site as a Housing Service Middle supervisor.
In 2016, the college was within the nationwide highlight after the emotional sufferer impression assertion of Chanel Miller, who was sexually assaulted on campus by Stanford athlete Brock Turner, went viral. Turner, a star swimmer, infamously acquired a six-month sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious Miller the earlier 12 months.
Decide Aaron Persky, who imposed the sentence, was recalled by voters in 2018, the primary choose to be recalled in California since 1932.
