Published: Wednesday, August 6, 2014 at 07:09 AM.
After interviewing Gowan’s accuser, friends and family, prosecutors
offered the 24-year-old man a deal. They believe his accuser was
deceiving law enforcement, said Gaston County Assistant District
Attorney Beth Stockwell.
Accusations of assault: Gowan lived in a Gastonia home
with his girlfriend, their child and her two children. The woman called
police on Sept. 22, 2013. She told officers she had just escaped her
home after being tied up and raped three times by the man she once
planned to marry.
The woman said Gowan had sexually assaulted her, threatened her with a
knife and still had the three children in the house with him when he
sent her to buy cigarettes. Gowan was arrested without incident.
Lesser charges: Gowan pleaded guilty Tuesday to assault,
possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. All other
charges were dropped. His sentence on the assault and drug convictions
would have been about four months. He spent 10 months awaiting trial
behind bars.
Gowan’s attorney, Ed Bogle, said he hated to see any charges on his
client’s record, but he wanted to get the man out of jail. Bogle said
Gowan is ready to get out and go on with his life.
False accusation: Bogle
commended Stockwell on researching the case and questioning the
allegations. He said Gowan’s accuser had made similar claims about other
men in the past.
“She has a history of creating a crisis and utilizing it as a mechanism for change,” he said.
Social workers have since taken the woman’s children, and Gowan’s child is living in Georgia with his mother, Bogle said.
http://www.gastongazette.com/spotlight/man-jailed-10-months-on-false-rape-accusation-1.355161?page=0
No comments:
Post a Comment