RBP
02-03-2019, 02:29 PM
A former prison guard who spent months behind bars for a fake rape has told a court how his ex-partner's crime nearly drove him to suicide, changed who he was and "shattered" his faith in the legal system.
Sarah-Jane Parkinson, 28, was on Thursday sentenced to more than three years in jail in the ACT Magistrates Court for the false claim made in 2014, in which she went as far as to stage a crime scene.
Parkinson, a former police worker, alleged the rape against her former partner while he was a prison guard at Canberra's jail.
The court earlier heard the couple met in 2011 and split within two years — after the couple were engaged and bought a house together.
Parkinson was in a new relationship on the day she made the allegations, and she had sent her new partner a blank message which was their call for help.
Police visited her house to find her with a head injury which was later found to be made up, her jeans undone, and a nearby condom wrapper.
At the time, she told police she could not remember much, but in late interviews claimed to have recalled more and more details, including adding new alleged assaults onto the fake rape.
She falsely told police that the victim had forcefully slammed her head into a retaining wall and drenched her with a hose.
Court documents showed investigators later found the accused man — her former partner — had been at his parents' house with others at the time of the alleged incident.
The former corrections officer was remanded in custody and spent nearly four months in Goulburn jail before the charges were dropped.
'I'm not the man I was before'
In an emotional court appearance, the formerly jailed man read out a victim impact statement saying he had lost everything.
He said he cried in disbelief during his first night in jail, and over the four months there never felt more "alone or helpless" — a struggle compounded by his past work in the justice system.
He said he constantly feared for his life as he thought a fellow inmate would recognise that he used to be a prison officer, making him feel like he was trapped in a black hole.
"I had to keep coming up with backstories," he said.
Deception ended a marriage and caused severe financial stress
The victim's mother looked straight at Parkinson when she read her victim impact statement, at times sobbing.
She said the emotional and financial stress caused the breakdown of her 36-year marriage with the victim's father.
The family were forced to re-mortgage their house to pay for the $300,000 legal bill.
The woman said that in the past five years she kept detailed diaries and CCTV records of the family's movements for fear of more false accusations against them.
Scathing of the ACT legal system, she said her son was not afforded the presumption of innocence he deserved.
Father 'could only see his son's five-year-old face'
Another impact statement was read by the victim's father, who described the family's battle to prove innocence as the "fight of our lives".
He said he lay awake every night his son spent in jail, expecting a call that he had been killed.
After spending 24 years in the military, the father said the trauma of his son's struggle "very nearly resulted in my suicide".
Whenever he visited him in jail, he was highly distressed.
The parents even organised a will and funeral cover for their son, believing he was in grave danger while in a Goulburn supermax prison as a former prison officer.
The father slammed Parkinson's allegations as "ever-changing, calculating and self-serving".
He also criticised the ACT legal system and ACT Policing over the five-year legal battle, claiming they were "gullible and a willing accessory" to Parkinson's fake allegations.
That had formed a "deep-seeded hatred and mistrust" in those authorities.
The victim's lawyer argued the false accusations by Parkinson undermine genuine domestic violence and rape victims.
In sentencing, Magistrate Beth Campbell agreed with this sentiment, saying it "exploited" the seriousness to which claims of domestic violence and rape are treated.
Magistrate Campbell also noted the lack of remorse shown by Ms Parkinson, as she had chosen not to apologise to the victim and his family.
Parkinson appeared straight-faced as the sentence was handed down.
She was sentenced to three years and one month in jail with two years non-parole.
Sarah-Jane Parkinson, 28, was on Thursday sentenced to more than three years in jail in the ACT Magistrates Court for the false claim made in 2014, in which she went as far as to stage a crime scene.
Parkinson, a former police worker, alleged the rape against her former partner while he was a prison guard at Canberra's jail.
The court earlier heard the couple met in 2011 and split within two years — after the couple were engaged and bought a house together.
Parkinson was in a new relationship on the day she made the allegations, and she had sent her new partner a blank message which was their call for help.
Police visited her house to find her with a head injury which was later found to be made up, her jeans undone, and a nearby condom wrapper.
At the time, she told police she could not remember much, but in late interviews claimed to have recalled more and more details, including adding new alleged assaults onto the fake rape.
She falsely told police that the victim had forcefully slammed her head into a retaining wall and drenched her with a hose.
Court documents showed investigators later found the accused man — her former partner — had been at his parents' house with others at the time of the alleged incident.
The former corrections officer was remanded in custody and spent nearly four months in Goulburn jail before the charges were dropped.
'I'm not the man I was before'
In an emotional court appearance, the formerly jailed man read out a victim impact statement saying he had lost everything.
He said he cried in disbelief during his first night in jail, and over the four months there never felt more "alone or helpless" — a struggle compounded by his past work in the justice system.
He said he constantly feared for his life as he thought a fellow inmate would recognise that he used to be a prison officer, making him feel like he was trapped in a black hole.
"I had to keep coming up with backstories," he said.
Deception ended a marriage and caused severe financial stress
The victim's mother looked straight at Parkinson when she read her victim impact statement, at times sobbing.
She said the emotional and financial stress caused the breakdown of her 36-year marriage with the victim's father.
The family were forced to re-mortgage their house to pay for the $300,000 legal bill.
The woman said that in the past five years she kept detailed diaries and CCTV records of the family's movements for fear of more false accusations against them.
Scathing of the ACT legal system, she said her son was not afforded the presumption of innocence he deserved.
Father 'could only see his son's five-year-old face'
Another impact statement was read by the victim's father, who described the family's battle to prove innocence as the "fight of our lives".
He said he lay awake every night his son spent in jail, expecting a call that he had been killed.
After spending 24 years in the military, the father said the trauma of his son's struggle "very nearly resulted in my suicide".
Whenever he visited him in jail, he was highly distressed.
The parents even organised a will and funeral cover for their son, believing he was in grave danger while in a Goulburn supermax prison as a former prison officer.
The father slammed Parkinson's allegations as "ever-changing, calculating and self-serving".
He also criticised the ACT legal system and ACT Policing over the five-year legal battle, claiming they were "gullible and a willing accessory" to Parkinson's fake allegations.
That had formed a "deep-seeded hatred and mistrust" in those authorities.
The victim's lawyer argued the false accusations by Parkinson undermine genuine domestic violence and rape victims.
In sentencing, Magistrate Beth Campbell agreed with this sentiment, saying it "exploited" the seriousness to which claims of domestic violence and rape are treated.
Magistrate Campbell also noted the lack of remorse shown by Ms Parkinson, as she had chosen not to apologise to the victim and his family.
Parkinson appeared straight-faced as the sentence was handed down.
She was sentenced to three years and one month in jail with two years non-parole.