Charlie Rogers, Nebraska Lesbian, Found Guilty Of Making Up Anti-Gay Hate Crime Story [PHOTO]
Charlie Rogers, a lesbian woman who claimed she was a hate crime victim, was found guilty of making up the story on Monday in a Nebraska court.
Rogers, 34, maintained her innocence until the very end, although she changed her plea from not guilty to no contest Monday in Lancaster County Court, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. Rogers originally made the not guilty plea in September.
Rogers made a police report following what she said was a July 22 attack in her home. She said three men broke into her house, tied her up, wrote anti-gay slurs in her skin and attempted to set her home ablaze, according to the Journal Star.
News of the alleged hate crime spread from Lancaster County and beyond, but an investigation into the report found that Rogers, a 34-year-old lesbian who once played for the University of Nebraska women’s basketball team, fabricated the story.
She was charged Aug 22. with filing a false police report. Rogers vehemently denied the charges despite Lancaster County Court Judge Gale Pokorny finding her guilty Monday.
“She does maintain her innocence,” her attorney, Brett McArthur, said after the hearing, according to the Journal Star. “The courtroom is not a gentle place. Charlie is a very fragile personality. This has been a very distressing experience, and she felt she couldn’t go on.”
"She has a very sensitive personality, and this has been a very frightening experience on many levels," McArthur added, according to the Associated Press. "She's not a particularly outspoken person in the gay community."
Prosectors detailed their case Monday against Rogers in the Lincoln courtroom.
They said they doubted her story in part because no blood was found on her bed although Rogers said the men bound, cut and pinned her down on her bed as she tried to fight back.
Cuts on Rogers’ body were found to be self-inflicted wounds by a forensic pathologist.
The items allegedly used in the attack, including white knit gloves, zip ties and a utility knife, all were bought at a hardware store that Rogers admitted she shops at, according to the Journal Star. She also told police that she owned zip ties and a utility knife used by the alleged attackers.
Police also said a cryptic Facebook post written by Rogers the day before the alleged incident may have foreshadowed her crime.
"So maybe I am too idealistic, but I believe way deep inside me that we can make things better for everyone,” the post read, according to the AP. “I will be a catalyst. I will do what it takes. I will. Watch me."
The former Nebraska women’s college basketball player made a YouTube video documenting her ordeal in which she slammed the Lincoln Police Department, claiming the department pushed her to confess.
“The investigation culminated with me in a room with law enforcement and them saying, ‘Charlie you did it. Say you did. You did it.’ And me saying, ‘No. No I didn’t.’ I won't say I did it then. I won’t say I did it now. I did not do this. I am innocent,” she said in the video, according to the Journal Star.
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