Woman says she made up rape report

A Coeur d’Alene woman who reported she was raped near the east entrance of Tubbs Hill told police Wednesday that she made up the report.

Charges are now pending against 22-year-old Brandy Ingraham for filing a false police report, said Sgt. Christie Wood, of the Coeur d’Alene Police Department.

Ingraham reported Monday that she had been raped by an unknown man who accosted her on the evening of March 30 while she was jogging by the 11th Street parking lot on the east side of the natural park.

It was the first false rape report in the city this year, said Wood, who noted that false reports raise unnecessary alarm in the community and take investigators away from solving crimes that involve actual victims.

Last year, the city police had five false reports of rape or attempted rape, Wood noted.

The most recent case to be prosecuted involved the claim of 25-year-old Breanne McClelland that she was attacked by a man in October while jogging in a neighborhood north of Sunset Field.

McClelland pleaded guilty to the charge of obstructing officers and was sentenced in February to 40 hours of community service and one year of probation and was ordered to pay $750 restitution to the city for the wages paid to officers who investigated the case.

In that case, police cordoned off the neighborhood and brought out a tracking dog to look for the alleged attacker. They worked into the early morning hours of the next day attempting to locate witnesses, according to earlier news reports.

The next day, when detectives had a follow-up interview with McClelland, she admitted that she made up the report.

Wood said that police must treat every rape report the same.

“We want to give each case what it requires,” she said. If police initially doubt rape reports, she added, “true victims would be victimized by us.”

Actual victims also are hurt by false reports because they may discourage them from coming forward, Dot Clark, a Women’s Center victims advocate, said Tuesday.

Wood would not reveal what reason Ingraham gave for making up her story, saying only, “It’s extremely personal.”