Update on 'Cry wolf...'

This morning, I cornered one of the maintenance men here and asked him about the tape. (There's a camera located in the pool area where alleged rape occured. I'd already learned about what was on the tape but wanted clarification.) He at first said they weren't allowed to comment on it. I told him what I'd heard and that I had a right to know whether I was taking my kids to a crime scene if I took them to the pool. I told him that I already had the opinion that the 'crime' was actually consensual. He finally said, "You didn't hear this from me. But yes it was consensual." I said, "That's all I need to know. Thank you." I would never do anything to get him or the other maintenance guy who'd already blabbed in trouble since both of them go above and beyond their duties.

So I called my girlfriend who this happened to and left a message for her to call me. She called me back and said, "There's more to the story than I told you last." I said, "That it was consensual?" She admitted it was but didn't know until later, which I figured. I knew the niece had freaked out and said she'd been raped and that's all my friend had to go on until they saw the survelience tape from the pool area. The girl eventually recanted the story, but the guy is still in jail because he is 20 and the girl is 15. I never once blamed my friend. All she had was what her niece told her. There were already rumors and gossip among the teenagers around here before I learned the truth.

Part of me is glad it wasn't a rape, because now I can take my kids to the pool without feeling like I was stepping in to some crime scene. The other part of me is so pissed that this girl cried wolf. As a rape survivor, I never told anyone at the time what happened. But with this girl, if she really is raped later on in life, no one is going to believe her. And that hurts me, even though I don't know her.