New York TV meteorologist arrested for false rape claim
Original post December 15, 2010: According to New York police, on November 24, 2010, WABC weather forecaster Heidi Jones, 37, made a false police report when she claimed that a Hispanic man in his 30s or 40s had attacked her in Central Park while she was jogging exactly two months earlier on September 24.
Jones claimed that the man grabbed her from behind, then dragged her into a wooded area and attempted to rape her. The man bolted when two tourists saw the incident and screamed, she claimed.
Jones also claimed that the same man showed up near her Manhattan apartment two months later, on November 21, to threaten her. He allegedly told her: "I know you went to the police." (She had not gone to the police -- November 24 was the first time she reported the alleged incidents to police.)
According to the New York Post: ". . . for cops, the story was all wet. The first clue was that she waited until Nov. 24, two months later, to report the alleged attack . . . ."
According to police, detectives conducted a lengthy investigation and canvassed the area for video and witnesses, but came up empty-handed. They went to speak with Ms. Jones again, and noticed more inconsistencies in her story, unnamed New York Post sources said. After being confronted with the discrepancies, a New York Post source said Miss Jones admitted that she had made up the story.
Jones allegedly told police she was having problems in her relationship and thought reporting the bogus crimes would gain her sympathy.
Jones has been suspended by the station pending an investigation. She is due in court on Jan. 5, and could face up to a year in prison if convicted.
Jones’ attorney said she is urging people to refrain from jumping to conclusions about the unproven charges against her.
Ironically, in 2007, Jones co-hosted a television show celebrating the anniversary of Central Park.
According to Jones' personal website, RunWithHeidi.com, her 'motto' is this: "If you knew you wouldn’t fail, what would you try?"
Motivation
One female writer pondered Jones' motivation: "So what kind of personal problems prompt a woman to pretend she’s been raped? As a woman, the only thing I can think of is maybe you’ve gotten some kind of STD that you need to account for in some way other than how you actually acquired it. I can see how if she tried to sell that story to her significant other, it could just all blow up in her face…as it obviously has." http://www.current-movie-reviews.com/people/2010/12/15/heidi-jones-pretended-she-was-raped-wanted-attention-something-smells-and-its-not-tuna/
Jones' purported motivation matches one of the common motivations of false rape accusers cited by experts in the field. In one landmark report, Dr. Eugene Kanin identified "Attention/Sympathy-Getting Device" as one of the three most common reasons for false rape claims in a study he had undertaken. Dr. Kanin wrote:
"Although this device seems to be the most extravagant use for which a false rape charge is made, it is also the most socially harmless in that no one was identified as the rapist. Approximately 18% (n = 8) of the false charges clearly served this function. The entire verbalization of the charge is, by and large, a fabrication without base."
Identification of Alleged Hispanic Attacker
False rape claims are not divorced from the culture in which they are made. To enhance the plausibility of the lie and to jack up its scariness quotient, many false rape claims tap into stereotypes and widely shared prejudices by identifying imaginary minority males as the perpetrator, especially blacks and Hispanics, because of the perceived greater likelihood of black and Hispanic men to be involved in violent criminal activity than Caucasian males.
In this case, Jones concocted an imaginary Hispanic man as her would-be rapist.
Sources:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/wabc_weather_gal_heidi_jones_suspended_ivnuzwpywzcPtGkhI4cD4I
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/12/15/weather-anchor-heidi-jones-arrested-for-allegedly-lying-to-police/
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=5470473
http://falserapearchives.blogspot.com/2009/06/archives-of-sexual-behavior-feb-1994.html
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/culture/2010/12/957478/true-crime-embezzlement-bronx-serial-murder-south-shore-suicide-soho
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/12/15/2010-12-15_wabctvs_heidi_jones_tale_of_central_park_attack_phony_cops_say_station_may_suspe.html#ixzz18D1DoErU
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1338835/Popular-weather-girl-face-year-jail-falsely-crying-rape-jogging-Central-Park.html#ixzz18D3CsuYconce
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/15/heide-jones-abc-weatherwo_n_796958.html