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Woman Lied About Rape to Cover Up Fight with Girlfriends
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 13, 2009
Modified Aug 13, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 13, 2009
Modified Aug 13, 2009
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A New Jersey woman has admitted she fabricated an allegation of rape against a man who's now serving a 20-year-sentence for the alleged assault. William McCaffrey, 31, was sentenced in 2006 after Biurny Peguero Gonzalez testified that he and two other men raped her at knife point in a van parked in Upper Manhattan in September 2005. But she now says she made the whole thing up, to cover for a fight with some of her women friends. Last year, new scientific developments enabled investigators to retest the DNA from bites on Gonzalez's arm; no "Y" chromosome was found, meaning the bites could not have come from a man.
McCaffrey met Gonzalez for the first time on the night of the alleged rape at the corner of Broadway and Dyckman Street in Inwood. Gonzalez was in a parked car with at least one friend, and McCaffrey invited them to an after-hours party. En route, it became apparent that Gonzalez was too inebriated to drive, and McCaffrey convinced her to park the car in a garage. Gonzalez's friend left to join other ladies in a second vehicle, and McCaffrey and Gonzalez got in a friend’s van to continue to the party. But they soon turned back after Gonzalez received angry calls from her gal pals.
They returned to the garage, where Gonzalez eventually reunited with her irate friends. At the trial, a garage attendant testified that the group was "yelling and hitting each other," and according to court papers, the fight was so fierce that one of the women kicked and broke a window in a car. In the morning, Gonzalez went to Christ Hospital in Jersey City and showed nurses bite marks on her shoulder and arm. The nurses found no physical evidence that she had been raped, but McCaffrey was convicted on the strength of her testimony.
Fast forward to seven months ago, when she got pregnant, got married, underwent a religious conversion, and decided she wanted McCaffrey released. She confessed to a priest, who convinced her to come forward. But her lawyer tells the Post he won't allow her to testify without immunity because she's pregnant: "I don't want to see her baby born in prison." The DA's Office is considering charging her with perjury. Speaking of the district attorney, the Times reports that last October, McCaffrey's lawyer asked the D.A. to vacate the conviction because of the new DNA test. But the DA refused, arguing that "the DNA could have come from tears shed by Peguero’s friends." McCaffrey is still in prison.
Tagged
court
lie
manhattan
prison
rape
victim
William McCaffrey
wrongful conviction
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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