Teen says she made up assault accusation

March 01, 2001

Teen says she made up assault accusation

By MARLO BARNHART

Lying in one court last April resulted in a perjury plea Wednesday from a teenage girl, now 18, who admitted to another judge that she fabricated an assault.

Appearing in Washington County Juvenile Court, the girl had originally been recommended for waiver to adult court for the crime.

Prosecutors withdrew that request, according to Assistant Washington County State's Attorney Susan Lochbaum, when the Department of Juvenile Justice insisted they had suitable treatment available for the girl within their agency.

Lochbaum Wednesday took issue with Department of Juvenile Justice's subsequent lack of a plan for the girl.

"It's a crime that now they are not recommending any services," Lochbaum said. "She is in need of psychological testing."

Lochbaum told Judge Donald Beachley that the same girl had made a false claim of rape in 1996, and that there was a 1999 bad check episode.

"We want her on probation," Lochbaum said.

A spokesman for the Department of Juvenile Justice told Beachley that the girl is involved in programs through the Department of Social Services and there would be unnecessary duplication of services.

Lochbaum said the girl appeared in Washington County District Court on April 20, 2000, and told Judge Noel Spence that she lied when she told police that a man had kicked, hit and knocked her down when she was seven months pregnant.

The man she falsely accused of beating her is serving a jail sentence for a later attack on her that was witnessed by a passerby and reported to police.

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