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False Rape Complaint Results in Katonah Woman's Arrest
Charges dropped against Putnam Valley Man
Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith reports the arrest of a Westchester County woman on criminal charges after it was determined that the rape complaint she lodged with the Sheriff's Office was false.
On February 11, 2008, 19- year-old Bonnie I. Mendez Katonah, New York, came to the Sheriff's Office and reported that she was raped by an acquaintance two years ago while the couple were at his Putnam Valley home. The investigation was assigned to Investigator Stephen Tricinelli of the Sheriff's Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
After a two-week probe, Investigator Tricinelli had determined that the allegations made by Ms. Mendez were false and that the crime, in fact, did not occur. Investigator Tricinelli arrested Ms. Mendez and charged her with Falsely Reporting an Incident in the Third Degree and Making a Punishable False Written Statement, both class "A" misdemeanors. Ms. Mendez was released without bail pending a March 24, 2008 court appearance in Carmel Justice Court.
A conviction of either of the criminal charges may be punishable by a sentence of incarceration as determined by the court for a term of up to one year in the Putnam County Correctional Facility.
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