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Jennifer Gries, a 25-year-old Stanford employee, was arrested on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, after fabricating assault allegations twice on campus last year.
Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of s*xual assault. Discretion is advised.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney, who announced the charges against Jennifer Gries, said that she lied about being s*xually assaulted on two different occasions to falsely implicate a coworker at the university in a revenge scheme.
Gries, who works as a Housing Service Center Supervisor at Stanford University, is accused of reporting a false s*xual attack in August 2022 and again in October, where she told a nurse in two different hospitals that she was attacked by a black man in his 20s. As per multiple reports, the alleged assailant's description reportedly matched the targeted co-worker.
Prosecutors said that Gries, who refused to file a police report, submitted a r**e kit and signed a consent form acknowledging that the nurse was required by law to notify law enforcement.
Details of Jennifer Gries's false allegations explored
Jennifer Gries was arrested after the results of the examination kits were inconsistent with the alleged claims of assault. Gries first fabricated the attack in August 2022, when she told a nurse at Valley Medical Center in San Jose that she was attacked in a campus parking lot where she was grabbed by a man who dragged her to a restroom and subsequently attacked her.
Months after the alleged first incident, Gries visited Stanford Hospital in October 2022, to get another r**e examination and told the nurse that she was attacked while returning to her office from lunch when she was again grabbed by an assailant who forced her into a basement storage closet and assaulted her.
In both cases, Gries declined to speak with the police but consented to the nurse notifying law enforcement about the attacks, where the description of the perpetrator was found to be similar to her co-worker.
After the assault kit examination did not correspond with the allegations made by Gries, she was questioned by authorities, who said that she admitted to lying about the attacks because she was angry at a coworker.
Authorities condemn Jennifer Gries' actions
As per ABC News, Gries was taken into custody on Wednesday morning, and her bail was set at $25,000. Following the arrest, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen condemned the actions of Gries, whose revenge campaign against a coworker caused undue stress to students on campus who feared for their safety after false reports prompted fear and protests at the university.
"This is a rare and deeply destructive crime. Our hearts go out to the falsely accused. Our hearts go out to students who had to look over their shoulders on their way to class. Our hearts go out to legitimate s*xual assault victims who wonder if they will be believed."
In a statement, Stanford University said Gries was placed on a leave of absence while the university reviewed her future at the institution.
“These false reports are damaging, both for true survivors of s*xual assault and for the members of our community who experienced fear and alarm from the reports.”
Prosecutors said that Jennifer Gries was charged with two felony counts of perjury and two misdemeanor counts of making a false criminal report about the alleged attacks.
