A 38-year-old Michigan woman received a five-year jail sentence on Friday after being convicted of reporting a false rape.
Sara Ylen reported that two men had entered her home and raped her. The accused man attended the same church as her ex-husband.
A police investigation found that these men had solid alibis and could not have been at Ylen’s home during the time she claimed she was raped and was not charged with a crime. However, the police did charge Ylen. She was convicted and given a two-year sentence for making a false report of rape and a three-year sentence for tampering with evidence to be served consecutively. The evidence tampering charge was for applying makeup to her face and body to make it look like she was bruised during a struggle. No reason was given as to why Ylen had made such a claim against the men.
This case was not the first time that Ylen claimed that she was raped. Present during her sentencing was a man named James Grissom. In a previous case, Grissom was sentenced to 15 years in prison due to Ylen’s claim that he raped her. After more investigation Grissom had his conviction overturned and was released from jail in 2012. This release came after he served almost ten years of incarceration. When ask about Ylen’s sentence Grissom stated that her sentence was a slap on the wrist and feels she should have received more time for her crimes of false charges.
Attorney Patrick Donovan is a Massachusetts Criminal Defense attorney. Attorney Donovan has appeared in over fifty Massachusetts courts on all types of criminal cases.