Cape woman charged with making false police report

Susan M. Lowe, 31, of South Benton Street, was charged Friday with making a false report to police that she had been raped and kidnapped.

On June 8, Lowe went to Cape Girardeau police and said she was abducted, raped and sodomized.

One month later, she allegedly told Cape Girardeau Police Detective Debi Oliver the whole story was false.

The alleged false report "caused alarm to the downtown community and the expenditure of time and expense to the police department," said a news release from the Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney's office.

According to the initial police reports, Lowe said she had been abducted from Broadway and Sprigg Street early in the morning by three men in a gold sport utility vehicle, and taken to an isolated park somewhere in the northeast sector of Cape Girardeau.

She then said she was sexually assaulted by two of the men.

On July 8, Lowe provided Oliver with a confession that the claims had never happened, according to a probable cause statement written by Oliver.

Though it is unusual to issue a warrant in a misdemeanor case, Lowe's extensive history of failing to appear for court and numerous untrue statement she has made against other people in the community were sufficient to qualify, according to the probable-cause statement.

The charge of falsely reporting a crime to the police carries a sentence of one day to one year in jail or a fine of up to $500.

Lowe was issued a summons to appear before Associate Circuit Judge Gary A. Kamp on Aug. 13.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245