What should I do if I am accused of rape?
Whitney S. Boan Protecting Your Right
Video Transcript
If you’re accused of a rape, the first inclination that many people have is to try to speak to the alleged victim, to speak to any alleged witnesses, or even to speak to law enforcement about it to try to clear their name or to try to control the situation. That is the worst thing that you can do when you are charged with rape or accused of rape. What you should first do before you do anything else or speak to anyone else about it at all, even if you believe you are innocent, is call a lawyer and seek his or her advice about how you should proceed. Very frequently, law enforcement will employ the assistance of the alleged victim or other witnesses to call you and pretend like law enforcement’s not involved with it to see if they can get you to make some statement that they can use against you. Even if you would deny the crime under those circumstances, you could expose yourself to future problems legally just based upon something you say that you believe would not hurt you. Please consult a lawyer if you even think you’re remotely facing the prospect of being accused of a rape charge.