Sharing the details of a sexual assault can be a frightening and invasive experience for a victim, which is just one explanation for why a staggering amount of rapes go unreported each year in this country. The reasons for why these women and men choose not to share their stories are vast, making it a challenge for police to catch their abusers. But what happens when police goad a unwilling victim into sharing her story, only to later arrest her for lying? A rape survivor in Prince William County, Virginia found out.

In a recent in-depth profile by Buzzfeed, Lara McLeod, 23, shared that when she was 19 she was raped by her sister’s fiancé Joaquin Rams–just two weeks after her sister, Hera, had given birth to Rams’ son Prince. When Lara confided in her family about the rape, it confirmed Hera’s unsettling suspicions about her fiancé. Lara’s family supported her decision not to report the rape, but Hera wanted to immediately cut ties with Rams.

Hera called Prince William County police to request an escort to pick up her belongings from the house she shared with Rams, but upon seeing the police, a “confused” Rams starting yelling that he hadn’t touched Lara. That’s when Buzzfeed reports that the routine escort request turned into an investigation for an alleged rape.

Despite her reluctance to report the assault, Lara was persuaded by police to go on record accusing Rams for the rape. However, the tables quickly turned after police began questioning her about specifics in the case like “why she didn’t try harder to escape.” Investigators’ biases on how rape victims “should act” lead them to conclude that Lara was lying, so they arrested her and charged her with making a false report.

Lara McLeod was arrested for reporting her own rape. Later her rapist murdered her n… https://t.co/fNItkxBB1a #news pic.twitter.com/b55oFSsqXn

— [ Police News ] (@InsidePolice) September 28, 2015

Her sister Hera was also charged with obstruction of justice, after allegedly deleting  video footage of her sister’s rape, that Rams had apparently filmed without either sisters’ knowledge. These charges were devastating for the two sisters, especially for Lara who watched as her reputation was ruined as more and more people learned of her supposed “fake rape.” It took years before the charges were finally expunged, but the experience left Lara with deep mistrust for law enforcement. But as reporter Katie J.M. Baker put it, the “worst was yet to come.”

According to Buzzfeed,

In the ensuing battle for custody over Prince, Hera and Joaquin’s infant son, it emerged that not only had Joaquin lied about his name, employment history, and age — he was a decade older than he had claimed — but he had also once been a suspect in his ex-girlfriend’s shooting death and a person of interest in his mother’s death, too, although he was never successfully charged in either case. He had been accused of child abuse by his other son, although never convicted, and ran an amateur porn site.

But thanks to the charges against Hera and Lara, Joaquin was able to portray himself as a comparatively fit parent — and the victim of a smear job. The judge granted Joaquin unsupervised visits. Three months later, EMTs found Prince unconscious on the floor of Joaquin’s house. The 15-month-old died the next day. Months later, Joaquin was charged with capital murder.

This story manages to combine almost everything that’s bad in this world into one perfect storm. A woman was raped, her life was ruined, and incompetence from the legal system led to her baby nephew’s death. The actual intricacies of the case are mind boggling. There was mishandling of evidence, miranda rights weren’t read, and the police involved operated under the bias that many women lie about being raped.

Until this kind of prejudice against rape victims is erased, sexual assault will continue to plague this country, rapes will continue to go unreported, and confidence in our police forces with only continue to dwindle. I hope Lara’s story sparks some change for the better.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

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