Oct 12, 2008 2:31 pm US/Central
Girl Who Lied About Rape To Volunteer In Community
PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. (STNG) ―
The girl who made a false report of rape in Palos Heights has agreed to do community service as penance, her attorney said Saturday as the public reacted with a mixture of sympathy and outrage to news that a hoax was behind one of the Southland's biggest criminal investigations.
Police officially closed their investigation into the alleged Sept. 16 abduction and rape of the 17-year-old Stagg High School senior Friday afternoon after the girl confessed to fabricating the story.
Her family released a statement offering their "deepest apologies" to the community Friday. Rumors that her story was untrue had circulated openly for two weeks.
Her original allegation that she had been kidnapped from T.J. Grinders sandwich shop in the 12200 block of South Harlem Avenue and subjected to a three-hour sexual ordeal at knifepoint by an "olive-skinned" man prompted an estimated $250,000 police probe, provoked widespread fear and stoked anti-Arab sentiment in the diverse neighborhood.
Speaking Saturday, her family's attorney, Martin Dolan, said the girl and her family "understand the anger that this has caused."
In an apparent reference to the anti-Arab feelings stirred by her false claims, Dolan said the family was particularly sorry "for any ill feelings this has caused against particular ethnic groups," stressing that the fallout was "entirely unintentional."
Once the girl, who is "suffering from some pretty serious emotional problems" has completed counseling and is "back on her feet," she will volunteer with the village, Dolan said.
"The family is extremely remorseful," he said. "This was an immature kid who made a very big error of judgment and never intended for this to rise to the level it did."
Police accepted the offer of community service when the girl confessed Friday, Dolan said.
Detective Dave Delaney said he believed the family -- who were not at home Friday night or Saturday -- were "doing everything they can to make this thing right."
"They're going through a pretty tough time right now," Delaney said.
Community service at the police department normally includes chores like washing squad cars, weeding the lawn and flowerbeds and non-sensitive paperwork, Delaney said.
Details about how many service hours the girl will complete and when she will do them are not yet finalized.
The Cook County State's Attorney's office said Friday they will not charge the girl or pursue her family for the cost of the investigation.
Detectives negotiated to have the girl confess in return for a guarantee not to prosecute her, police sources say.
In the absence of a confession, there was insufficient evidence to bring charges, the sources said. Concern for the girl's wellbeing also weighed in the decision not to press charges.
Dolan said the family never could hope to pay for the cost of the investigation but that they hoped their daughter's contrition would be demonstrated by her service.
"The community service is never going to make up for the some of the anger that may exist, but to punish this girl with criminal charges that makes it impossible to get a job when she is older isn't going to help," he said.
Gifts given to the girl and the family in the wake of her rape claims will be donated to rape victim charities, Dolan said.
St. Alexander's Church Pastor Edward Cronin on Saturday called on neighbors and schoolmates to support the girl who fabricated a story about being abducted and sexually assaulted Sept. 16.
"People understandably are asking questions and they are angry," he said. "And of course she needs to take responsibility for what she did, but I think people will be sensitive to her.
"We need to show tremendous compassion and try to help."
Palos Heights Ald. Jean Gnap echoed Cronin's message.
"If anyone has any charity in their heart they would think of what the family must have gone through and say a prayer that they can pull through this difficult time," she said.
A team of 30 detectives had worked around the clock with the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force to search for the alleged rapist in the immediate aftermath of the girl's report.
She had texted a pal twice during the evening of Sept. 16, telling him a "creepy" man was watching her through the window at the sandwich shop where she worked -- just yards from and in full view of a fire station.
About 9 p.m., she called her friend and asked him to pick her up and drive her home, saying the man had returned as she closed the shop.
But by the time the friend, a fellow senior at Stagg, arrived just minutes later, the girl was missing and her bag and cigarettes were scattered on the sidewalk.
Police immediately launched a manhunt and were at the girl's home, interviewing her parents, when she walked up the driveway barefoot and unkempt, claiming to have been raped.
T. J. Grinders owner Mark Holda endured public criticism in the days following the girl's accusation, as residents questioned why he had allowed the girl to work alone at night.
Holda took to the streets to assist in the investigation, handing out fliers and saying the girl was confident working alone.
He declined to comment Saturday as he tried to rebuild his damaged business.
Workers in neighboring stores -- many of whom joined the criticism of him last month -- said he walked up and down the 12200 block of South Harlem Avenue Friday afternoon tearing down wanted posters.
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2008. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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