Renee Dawn Skoglund, a married woman, traveled to Florida in search of some excitement, but her escapade took an unexpected turn when guilt overwhelmed her following a consensual encounter. To cover her tracks, Skoglund, 30, concocted a false story claiming she had been raped. Her motive? To obtain a free STD test. No luck for her, the police knew how to catch someone cheating.
When Skoglund was arrested on March 10 in Sioux Falls, only two days after she told police in Hillsborough County that she had been sexually assaulted. She was accused of wrongly calling 911, filing a fake crime report, and making up physical proof.
Skoglund told the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office on an audio tape that she had to pull over on I-75 because her car was having trouble. She said that an unknown man tied her up and put a towel over her head to rape her.
Well, her story fell apart when she told detectives that she knew about the exact type of rope that was used in the alleged attack and that it could be traced back to Walmart.
Police issued a statement saying, "[Skoglund] attempted to change her statements before eventually admitting to fabricating the entire incident."
Skoglund had made up the story about being raped to get a free STD test, even though she was married at the time.
Prosecutor Jessica Couvertier told the court, "She had consensual sexual intercourse with an individual in Hillsborough County. Then she felt guilty about it because of her marital status, and she wanted to get checked out for a sexually transmitted disease."
Sheriff Chad Chronister stressed how bad these actions are by saying, "There are far too many people who have to go through this kind of trauma. This woman used our 911 emergency line and took attention away from real victims who need the tools that are available in these kinds of investigations.
Skoglund got two years of community control, which is like house arrest, and eight years of probation for his crime. She was also given a fine of $17,245.26 for wasting police time and money. Who knows how far would she go, if no one ever knew how to catch a cheater?
"Skoglund acted like she was trying to hide the fact that she felt very guilty about something she did. Well, when people feel really guilty, they do things they normally wouldn't. For me, her actions just show that she is having a hard time deciding what is right and wrong, like a reminder of how complicated people are," notes Wilda Harrison, a relationship psychologist.
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