Case Study

Acclaim Investigates Sexual Assault Claim

A young man (the defendant) had been accused of sexual assault on a young woman (the alleged victim). And the outlook wasn’t good – he had “confessed” to a sheriff’s deputy following his arrest.

The defendant’s attorney turned to Acclaim to uncover the truth of the case and establish the veracity of the sexual assault claim and the subsequent confession.

Acclaim sent a team of investigators to conduct interviews. During interviews with a variety of sources, including the young woman’s friends, landlord, and co-workers, we discovered the alleged victim claimed to be bipolar with multiple personality disorder. Witnesses who were interviewed reported to investigators that the young woman represented herself to be 18 or 21 years of age. She had also used two different names and lied to past boyfriends about her age. Her apartment manager reported she had numerous sexual relationships with other tenants.

Our investigators also discovered witnesses who indicated the woman was extorting money from the defendant in order to pay for her drug habit, and she accused the defendant of sexual assault when he stopped giving her money. The Acclaim team found numerous witnesses who were not only aware of the extortion plan, but had actually witnessed monetary exchanges between the plaintiff and the defendant.

As Acclaim’s team dug deeper, it was revealed the plaintiff had an active relationship with a pseudo-Christian cult. This cult recruited young women and encouraged them to engage in what they called “flirty fishing,” the practice of using sex as bait to tempt men into a position where they could be blackmailed. The men were offered a choice of providing financial support for the cult or being reported to law enforcement. Many of these women worked regularly as call girls for escort services or as freelance prostitutes because of financial demands by the cult.