An openly gay woman who was once a star basketball player for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was found guilty of making a false police report after claiming she had been assaulted because of her sexuality.
Charlie Rogers told police in July that her home was invaded by three masked men who beat her up and carved anti-gay slurs into her body. She was arrested on August 21 and charged with making a false report.
In November, Rogers made a video proclaiming she was innocent of staging the incident as well as claiming the men who assaulted her were still free, saying:
The perpetrators of my crime are still out there. They are. It wasn’t me. I wouldn’t say I did it then, and I won’t say I did it now. I am innocent.
Rogers claimed three men entered her house and one held her down while another cut anti-gay slurs into her arms and stomach, carved a cross into her chest, and sliced her thighs, shins, buttocks, and calf. She said the assailants tried to burn down her house after the attack.
There was no evidence supporting Rogers’ story; a forensic pathologist stated that the injuries were self-inflicted or she allowed someone else to hurt her. Police assert that the reason Rogers made the claim was to promote “change.”
Rogers’ lie sparked LGBT rallies outside the state capitol in addition to numerous vigils in Nebraska, where thousands of gay rights supporters donated money for her.
Rogers faces up to a year in jail and a $1000 fine.
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