Should Perjury Deserve Equal Punishment at Times?
By Wendy
@jerzgirl (9327)
United States
December 13, 2009 2:20pm CST
The very thing we as women hope doesn't happen happened in the state of New Jersey when a New Jersey woman falsely accused a man of raping her and was successful in having him convicted. Biurny Peguero has since admitted that she lied about being kidnapped and raped in 2005 after DNA tests were finally done on the saliva found in a bite on her arm.
She will now serve only seven years while this innocent man lost three of his own years while expecting to be in prison for twenty! I doubt I'm alone in thinking that she should serve the sentence she caused him to have. I also doubt I'm the only one wondering why it took four years to do a DNA test!
Now, maybe you're thinking this man did attack her, even if he didn't rape her, so she felt justified in making these claims just to get him off the streets. Well, you'd be wrong. She did this so she could get sympathy from her friends who weren't sympathetic about her being frightened by some men who did NOT attack her. The accused was not among them.
The story does not explain how she came to focus her false charges on William McCaffrey, which would be nice to know, I think. But, it's bad enough when women lie about men just to get back at them, but to fabricate a story that was going to take 20 years of a man's life just so your friends will pay attention to you is a sad testament of this woman's ethics and persona.
Source: http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/nation_world/78750042.html?cmpid=15585797
What do you think of this woman's behavior? The law may not allow it, but do you think she should have to serve out the rest of HER victim's time in prison because of her callous disregard for the truth?
2 people like this
5 responses
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
13 Dec 09
Hi jerzgirl, that is a terrible thing to happen as a man will never recover his good name after being found guilty of rape. She should indeed serve out the rest of his sentence for her pathetic lies. Of course her actions as well will make it more difficult too to have guilty rapists convicted. I don't know how it works in the US but in the UK the womans name would have been kept secret in the UK and just the mans name ruined.
Reading the newspaper report it does not explain how, if she was believed to have been gang raped, proper rape tests weren't carried out, or why other members of the 'gang' weren't also prosecuted. Did the bite even have anything to do with anything? I really thought it was more difficult to get a rape conviction through than just alledging that someone raped someone. Difficult one as the report there is obviously missing plenty of details out.
@jerzgirl (9327)
• United States
13 Dec 09
If you read my comment above, I think everyone failed this man. Why did it take three years to do the DNA test that should have been done at the time she cried "rape!" Where were his lawyers in this? Why didn't they insist on the test before the trial? And, yes, what happened that the others involved (supposedly) were never prosecuted at all? It almost sounds like someone wanted this man out of the picture for some reason and made him a ready target for her lies. I think the entire judicial system in that area should be investigated over this one - it just sounds way too bungled to be legit.
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
13 Dec 09
I agree, it all sounds highly odd. If someone was convicted as part of a gang rape there would have been other DNA than an untested bite on the arm. Other convictions. Women who cry rape for attention like that should indeed pay for the mans ruined life as goodness knows what could have happened to a convicted rapist in prison. I hope your system allows for monetary recompense to the man.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
13 Dec 09
hi jerzgirl Her behavior is appalling to me, and she should have to serve some time, but twenty years, I am not sure, I realize she cost that man three years, so lets say they should put her in for six years. twenty seems like a pretty harsh sentence to me.Why not ten years and rehabilitate her so she can once more'
be a good person? she did not kill or main, she just lied, twenty years would be too long.
@jerzgirl (9327)
• United States
13 Dec 09
For the most part, I agree. She actually got seven years, but I doubt she'll have to serve all of it. She was just so willing to allow this man to rot in prison for 20 years just so she could save face with her friends, even seven years doesn't seem enough for what she so willingly applied to him when he'd done nothing. Anyway, I just thought I'd bounce it off of others to see how they viewed it. And, why didn't they do the DNA test at the beginning? Were they so sure of themselves and her testimony they didn't feel it necessary? Obviously, his attorney didn't do his part or he'd have insisted on it. It's not like DNA wasn't yet available three years ago! The entire system failed this man.
@cripfemme (7698)
• United States
14 Dec 09
It depends on what one perjures one's self about. If you do about 9/11 and perjure yourself saying you didn't know who did it, I think that they should lock you up for the amount of time they lock up the offender. If you perjure about something minor such as someone's extramarital affair, this is not as big a deal, since no one is going to die.
@poingly (605)
• United States
14 Dec 09
What if you are a religious leader and one of the members of your parish confessed prepping 9/11? It might be better to say, "I know, but the Constitution protects me from revealing who it is;" however, if your parish is small, that too might be revealing too much info and breaking an expectation of secrecy (confessions to a religious leader are protected privacy).
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
20 Dec 09
her sentence should be doubled for lying.
false rape accusations not only hurt the cases of women who really were,it's the worst thing you can do to a man because even when cleared,it still follows him sometimes.
@MJay101 (710)
•
13 Dec 09
I think the behaviour of the woman in the case you describe is utterly reprehensible.
One of the reasons that rape convictions are so rare (in percentage terms) is that juries sometimes do not believe the victim, or there are questions over the specific story put forward by each party.
This woman has not only wrecked an innocent man's life, but contributed to the doubt voiced by defendants in other cases. I expect that this case will result in several rapists escaping jail terms.
I think she should be shot.
