This is Brian Banks. Banks was an athletic young man in the midst of an escalating career as a footballer. An extremely talented linebacker, Banks had offers from various prestigious colleges for football and had verbally committed to USC. But in 2002, it crash-landed abruptly.
He was falsely accused of rape by a classmate named Wanetta Gibson. Banks, faced with 41 years in jail, pleaded guilty to five years in jail, as well as five on probation and lifelong registration on the sex offender list. Banks’ football career was effectively ended.
Gibson and her mother also sued the school and won a 1.5 million dollar settlement.
Luckily, in 2011, Gibson was secretly taped admitting she had made up the story. The evidence was presented to the courts, and Gibson ended up paying 2.6 million to the school district where she had made her fraudulent claim. After the evidence was released to the court, Banks was freed, and one year later, his former dreams came true when he went to play for the Atlanta Falcons.
However, his career is still permanently stained. He was a footballer turned rapist overnight. There will still be people who are wary of him. There will still be those who refuse to believe his word, despite the evidence.
False rape accusations have many repercussions and usually, those making the accusations are seldom punished. These accusations target many people whether they be celebrities, athletes, politicians or your average person on the street. Justice is almost never taken against the accusers while the real victim’s lives and reputations are permanently destroyed.
For men, this is all far more severe. Men are considered guilty until proven innocent—her word against his.
Where the true words of a man are held to lower value than the false words of a woman, that's discrimination.
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