After Selfie Photo Exposes False Assault Claim, Accuser to be Charged

A woman who made a demonstrably false assault claim will be arrested.

A selfie saved the Texas man who was facing a 99-year prison term for allegedly committing assault against the woman.

Cristopher Precopia, 21, was arrested last year after his ex-girlfriend said he broke into her home and attacked her.

But a selfie he had taken proved he was out of town the day she claimed the attack happened.

Precopia’s mother Erin Pinkston Precopia posted a selfie of the pair and wrote: “My son and countless others have been falsely detained and imprisoned on accusations alone. This is not constitutionally right. Laws must be changed! My son’s rights were violated. He was not given any information about why he was being arrested, not given the details of his arrest until AFTER bail was set at $150,000. Let that sink in...”

The picture showed them at an Austin hotel room some 65 miles away from the home of the accuser. The photo was timestamped 20 minutes before the accuser claimed Precopia broke into her house, vindicating him.

The family was grateful the false claim was about a day they could prove Cristopher was innocent.

“I’m thinking, ‘This is awesome. By the grace of God, she said it happened on the day when I can say totally, 100 percent, where he was at,” Erin Precopia told USA Today.

Sworn affidavits from several people who were there with him that evening were provided to the court. Other photos on Facebook posted at the same time as the alleged assault were also used.

“Most of the time, we deal with gray matters,” attorney Rick Flores told the paper. “It’s not normally black or white. But this is one of those cases where I could definitely prove he did not commit this offense.”

A man uses a smartphone in a file photo. Shizuo Kambayashi/AP

Ex-Girlfriend to be Arrested

The woman who made the claim will be arrested, according to a new report.

Jim Nichols with the Bell County Attorney’s Office told the Temple Police Department to seek a warrant to arrest Faith Cox, the accuser, reported KVUE.

Nichols said Cox will likely turn herself into the authorities this week, and that she has an attorney.

The looming arrest was also reported by Fox 7, but no specific date was given in either report.

She will be charged with filing a false police report. She claimed that Precopia broke into her house, punched her in the face, and carved an “X” into her upper chest with a box cutter.

The crime carries a maximum prison sentence of 180 days in jail and a maximum fine of $2,000.

The Precopia family was slated to meet with Nichols this week or next week to discuss the misdemeanor charge against Cox.

Meanwhile, Precopia is fighting to get the arrest record expunged since he’s been cleared of the charge, his mother told the Crime Online blog. She also said he’s dealing with the psychological impact of the false accusation.

“The psychological toll it has taken on him for the past year has been devastating to witness,” she said. “He had to check in with a bail bonds company once a week for 9 months. He had (and still does) to look over his shoulder everywhere he went in fear of this happening again. He had to always make sure he was with someone, or somewhere where people could vouch for his whereabouts.”

From NTD News