Fear gripped the small town of Denison, Tex., after 18-year-old Breana Harmon Talbott ran into a church and told people she had been kidnapped and raped by three masked black men. Talbott, who was only wearing a bra, T-shirt and underwear, was bloodied and looked battered.
“She told witnesses at the church she had been kidnapped and sexually assaulted in the woods behind the church,” the Denison County Police Department said in a statement. “There were also visible cuts and/or scratches on her body.”
News of the incident swept the community and incited countless racist tweets all over on social media.
“Three black man kidnapped and gang raped an engaged 18 year old white girl yesterday. IF THE RACES WERE REVERSED, THIS WOULD BE NATIONAL NEWS. THESE MEN DESERVE TO BE HANGED.”
But Talbott made the whole story up. According to the Denison Police Department, Talbott concocted the whole story earlier this month.
“The so-called victim in the case confessed to the hoax last evening (March 21) to a member of the investigative team working the case,” read a news release by Denison Police Chief Jay Burch. “Talbott’s hoax was also insulting to our community and especially offensive to the African-American community due to her description of the so-called suspects in her hoax. The department will file a criminal case against her for false report to a peace officer, a class B misdemeanor” and will “seek restitution for the significant costs for conducting such a major investigation.”
Denison Police said in a statement released Wednesday, two weeks after the alleged incident, that detectives soon developed doubts about her account and that the teen admitted to the hoax on Tuesday night.
She also allegedly admitted to staging the church entrance and causing the cuts to her body herself. According to the Dallas News, Talbott’s injuries were all self-inflicted and, Burch said, “It is our understanding that medical personnel who examined Talbott were unable to corroborate that Talbott had been sexually assaulted.”
“Breana Harmon Talbott’s hoax was also insulting to our community and especially offensive to the African-American community due to her description of the so-called suspects in her hoax,” police said in their Wednesday statement. “The anger and hurts caused from such a hoax are difficult and all so unnecessary.”
