Woman falsely accuses officer of 'anally penetrating' her during arrest after being caught shoplifting
23-year-old Marley Barberian has been charged with making a false report of sexual battery, as well as a false report of crime and perjury over the incident
A woman who was arrested for shoplifting and then claimed that the arresting officer raped her and groped her has been hit with additional charges over the incident after it was proved that her claims were false.
According to CBS12, 23-year-old Marley Barberian was first arrested by a Palm County Sheriff's deputy and booked into the county jail for shoplifting at a Target. However, during her medical examination, she told the intake nurse that the arresting officer had sexually battered her before bringing her in.
Barberian would then reiterate the same claim while giving a sworn statement to a detective, going into great detail about how the incident unfolded. She had said that the officer had anally raped her while they were leaving the Greenacres Police Department, describing how he pulled her pants down and penetrated her on the side of the road after he pulled over on the side of the road to complete some paperwork.
She also told authorities that the same deputy who raped her also groped her earlier in a patdown after her arrest at the Target and that he put his gun in her mouth "because that probably turned him on," adding that it was only after this that he dropped her at the jail. In her description of the assaulting officer, she said he was a big white male, bald or with little hair, and green eyes.
The story would not hold up to scrutiny. After the authorities launched an investigation into the allegations, they uncovered many holes in her recollection of the night. A male deputy testified that the accused officer did not touch Barberian inappropriately and that it was actually a female deputy who patted her down at the store. He also said that the accused officer only drove her to the Greenacre Police Station, following which a female deputy booked her into Palm Beach County Jail.
Investigators also combed through surveillance footage which exonerated the deputy in question from any wrongdoing. The in-car video from the deputy's vehicle showed that there were no stops in the time Barberian was arrested at the target and taken to Greenacre Police Station. Further footage then confirmed that it was indeed a female officer who escorted her in and booked her into the jail.
The sheriff's office found probable cause to arrest Barberian once again and charge her for making the false accusation and the 23-year-old is now facing charges of a false report of sexual battery, as well as a false report of crime and perjury.
She is currently being held at the Palm Beach County Jail on a $3,000 bond.
