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The Problem of False Sexual Offense Allegations and the Register-Her Initiative

False accusations of sexual offenses can and do devastate lives, ruining reputations, careers, and even leading to tragic outcomes like suicide and murder. High-profile cases have highlighted this issue, prompting me to create the Register-Her website in 2011 to document proven instances of false allegations. Below are two notable false allegation cases, followed by an overview of the website’s mission and its relaunch in 2025.

Case 1: Brian Banks (2002–2012) [1]

In 2002, Brian Banks, a promising high school football star from Long Beach, California, was falsely accused of rape by classmate Wanetta Gibson. Despite no physical evidence, Banks faced a potential 41-year sentence and was pressured into a no-contest plea, resulting in six years in prison, five years of parole, and registration as a sex offender. Gibson later received a $1.5 million settlement from a lawsuit against the school district for alleged security lapses. In 2011, Gibson admitted to fabricating the accusation in a recorded conversation with Banks, facilitated by a private investigator. Though the recording was inadmissible in court, the California Innocence Project used it to secure the reversal of Banks’ conviction in 2012. In 2013, a Los Angeles Superior Court ordered Gibson to repay $2.6 million to the school district, including the settlement, attorney fees, interest, and punitive damages. Gibson failed to appear in court or repay the amount, and no criminal charges were filed against her. Banks lost critical years of his football career due to the rape lie.

Case 2: Rolling Stone “Jackie” Debacle (2014) [2]

In 2014, Rolling Stone published “A Rape on Campus,” an article by Sabrina Rubin Erdely detailing an alleged gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity, as reported by a student named “Jackie.” The story gained widespread attention but was retracted in 2015 after investigations by The Washington Post and others revealed inconsistencies, including discrepancies in the alleged assailant’s identity, the date of the incident, and a lack of corroborating evidence (e.g., no party matching Jackie’s description occurred). Jackie’s friends and fraternity members contradicted key details, and Rolling Stone was criticized for failing to verify the account, leading to defamation lawsuits and settlements, including $1.65 million to the fraternity. The case damaged trust in sexual assault reporting and highlighted the need for rigorous journalistic standards.

Other Examples

False allegations have led to tragic consequences beyond these cases:

Jay Cheshire (2015): After being falsely accused of rape, Cheshire committed suicide. A year later, his mother, Karin Cheshire, also took her own life, unable to cope with the loss. The accuser’s identity was shielded by media. [3]

Christopher Hughes (2023): Falsely accused of rape, Hughes was murdered by seven men who stabbed him over 90 times. The media published the killers’ names but protected the accuser’s identity. [4]

There are countless other examples, far too numerous to go into here, which explains the need for the Register-Her website.

The Register-Her Website

Launched on September 13, 2011, Register-Her aimed to expose false sexual offense allegations by documenting cases from credible news sources. The site sought to highlight the criminal justice system’s inconsistent and often lackadaisical response to such accusations and their devastating impact on innocent individuals. However, it faced significant backlash:

Media outlets like BuzzFeed, We Hunted the Mammoth, and the Southern Poverty Law Center criticized the site, accusing it of doxxing and harassment.

I was lifetime banned from Twitter (pre-2022 ownership) for sharing news stories about false allegations, which were alleged by Twitter to harass offenders.

Maintaining the site became burdensome, leading to its lapse.

In the interim period since the site’s lapse, we’ve had the #MeToo movement, which has fizzled due to strains on its own credibility. We’ve also had the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard matter, bringing some more badly needed attention to the false allegation problem as well as highlighting the public blind spot when it comes to women who lie about different forms of abuse from men.

Relaunch

Today, amidst the recent shift toward freer speech and well-earned skepticism of the “believe all women” narrative, Register-Her is being relaunched at RegisterHer.com. The site continues its mission to document verifiable false allegations, encouraging public contributions of news stories via a reporting feature on the website. A donation option is also available to support its maintenance. The relaunch aims to address the ongoing issue of false accusations, which, despite high-profile cases like Johnny Depp’s defamation victory over Amber Heard in 2022, continue to harm lives due to societal tendencies to treat allegations as truth without evidence.

Call to Action

The Register-Her initiative invites individuals to contribute by submitting verified news stories about false sexual offense allegations. By raising awareness, the site seeks to foster a more balanced approach to addressing accusations while protecting the innocent from unjust consequences.