West Virginia Rape Victim Says She Fabricated Story
Posted: Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 9:56 am
In 2007, Megan Williams’s story made headlines, when the then-20-year-old told investigators of the brutal rape, beating, and torture she was forced to endure in her West Virginia home. Two years later, Williams is recanting her story, and is saying the whole story was made up, as a way to get back at her abusive boyfriend.
The horrific tale drew support for the victim from all areas of the country, and the media reported throughout the trial of the six defendants accused of the brutal attack against Williams. Civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton wanted the accused to stand trial for hate crimes as well. Williams is black; all of the accused attackers are white.
Williams’s lawyer says she has not been pressured into the confession, and went into it knowing that she could very well face criminal charges for fabricating her story. Each of the defendants plead guilty and were sentenced to up to 40 years in prison. A seventh suspect was not sentenced. None of them have filed appeals or have expressed interest in doing so. Police say that while they are used to having criminals recant confessions of crimes, having a victim recant a story is very rare.
“What Williams initially told the told the police is substantiated by overwhelming evidence against them,” said Brian Abraham, a former district attorney who prosecuted Williams’ case. “They confessed to their own crimes and made statements against each other. And everything they said was further substantiated by physical and forensic evidence.”
The victim’s mother described her daughter as “slow,” and Abraham has also said she is a “special-education type student.” Investigators were cautious of her ability to testify and remember facts, and decided to let the physical evidence speak for itself – which it did.
“They were all interviewed separately,” said Logan County Sheriff Eddie Hunter. “None knew what any of the others were saying. And all their evidence went along with exactly with what the others were saying.”
Williams initially told investigators that she had been beaten, stabbed, raped and forced to drink urine and eat animal feces. Valencia Daniels, Williams’s personal aide, told The Associated Press that the young woman goes back and forth about the allegations, upholding her story at times, while other times denying it completely.
There is no word yet if any of the six convicted will appeal following Williams’s confession.
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