Jailed over false rape accusations

This is Bettina Arndt and I am starting this crowd-funder to raise funds for a  Canberra family who are victims of a malicious campaign based around false rape and domestic violence accusations. I am a well-known journalist now working full-time promoting men's issues. I recently made a  YouTube video  with  Dan, the young man who was imprisoned as a result of these rape accusations. Please watch the video .  

Last week the perpetrator of this crime, Sarah Jane Parkinson, was sent to prison for three years for false rape accusations and faking a crime scene. This followed five years of  Parkinson's vicious attempts to destroy Dan, her ex-fiancé, and his family, with the help of crooked cops.  

Her campaign led to Dan spending four months wrongly imprisoned and his parents blowing their life savings, spending over $300,000 trying to protect their son. Their story exposes a legal system which believed a lying, deceitful woman and failed dismally to protect the legal rights of this family. In sentencing Parkinson, Magistrate Beth Campbell told the victim’s family that their complaints of the failings of the legal system had not fallen on deaf ears; they had been a sobering reminder of the responsibilities of all involved.
 
The case received nation-wide publicity and as the perpetrator of this very serious crime, the courts have determined Sarah Jane Parkinson can be  publicly named.  Here  is a list of the press-coverage of this case.

Both Dan and his father are part of the team managing this crowd-funder and will be the direct beneficiaries of all funds raised through this process.  

Here, in brief, are more details of what happened: 

It all started with Parkinson having an affair with a policeman which lead to Dan breaking off their engagement. Parkinson, with the help of her crooked cop boyfriend and his mates, embark on a crusade to destroy Dan and his family. False domestic violence accusations, AVOs, alleged breaches and then a fake rape scenario where she smashed her own head with a brick, planted an empty condom packet (very considerate rapist, using a condom, eh?) and then claimed the cat ate the condom.  

But then the cavalry arrived, good cops led by a female detective who was onto the corrupt antics of the Parkinson’s police mates. “Don’t fucking touch anything!” the good cops warned the bad guys. Yes, I know… It reads like a very bad script for The Bill. But it is all totally true. 

Dan was immediately sent to prison following the fake rape allegations – the earlier violence accusations meant no questions asked. He was put into a maximum-security prison at Goulburn, a very scary place for a young prison officers who knew screws get a very bad time inside. He spent four months in an isolation cell for his own protection, suicidal and knowing he faced up to 15 years if convicted on the trumped-up charges.  

Meanwhile, with Dan taken care of, Parkinson went after Dan’s family with false violence accusations against his dad, planting stolen goods, all manner of shenanigans. But little did she know that the good cops were running a sting on her and her copper mates, tracking their movements. So it went on – for five long years.   

It is an amazing story. Thankfully it had a good ending - it is a rare event that women are punished for making false allegations.  But Parkinson’s prison sentence is no consolation for Dan losing his reputation, his job, and having to move to another state, while his parents lost their future financial security paying legal bills.  

I urge you to support this crowd-funder to show Dan and his family that you care about this appalling miscarriage of justice and the biased legal system so firmly tilted against men.

Please also write to the ACT Attorney General seeking an ex gratia payment to Dan's family to recover some of the costs of the legal fight to protect Dan. Details of how to contact the AG and what to say are included here  on my website.