Student charged for false reporting

A 19-year-old IU student will face false reporting charges after she admitted to fabricating a story she told police about being drugged and raped in an Assembly Hall restroom during the IU-Purdue basketball game.\nAccording to officials at the Monroe County Circuit Court, freshman Mary Bray will appear in court for sentencing at 1 p.m. April 15. Under Indiana law, false reporting of crimes is a Class D felony, which carries a penalty of a fine up to $10,000 and six months to three years in jail.\nIU Police Department reports indicate Bray was taken to the Bloomington Hospital by ambulance during the Feb. 22 men's basketball game after receiving a citation for illegal possession of alcohol and public intoxication. IUPD Lt. Jerry Minger said officers at the scene noted Bray smelled like alcohol, had vomit all over her clothing and was staggering.\nAt the hospital, Bray told an emergency room nurse she was drugged and raped in the women's restroom near the C section of Assembly Hall.\nAfter speaking with several detectives and spectators who claim they saw Bray at the game, Minger said police immediately questioned her story.\n"The timeline of events didn't seem to match up," he said. "After reviewing the case and conducting those interviews, we realized it was impossible for (the rape) to have happened."\nWhen police confronted Bray with the information during her second interview, Minger said she recanted her story.\nAlthough she didn't tell police why she falsified the rape story, Minger said he suspects she might have been trying to avoid an alcohol ticket.\n"One assumption we had to make was it was due to her state of inebriation or the possibility she was trying to divert attention from her alcohol charge," Minger said. "There's no other reason she's given us so far."\nMinger said Bray caused a "great deal of concern" around campus.\n"A lot of people that attend these types of events were fearful," he said. "We obviously had to work under the assumption there was an actual sexual assault."\nFollowing the IU-Purdue game, Minger said security was increased by having officers make extra routine checks at restrooms and places "out of spectator sight" at the next home basketball game on Feb. 27.\nMinger said after Bray admitted to fabricating the story, it was suggested she speak with a counselor.\n"We feel anyone who would do something like this needs some kind of counseling," Minger said. "This is a very irresponsible thing to do."\nDean of Students Richard McKaig could not be reached for comment by press time on possible University sanctions.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Lori Geller at lfgeller@indiana.edu.