Jail for woman who lied about being raped by black man on college campus

A 21-year-old Michigan woman who admitted to lying about being raped on her college campus was sentenced to 45 days in jail on Monday.

Mary Zolkowski pleaded guilty to making a false report of a felony after claiming she was raped at Delta College on February 22. According to MLive, the ex-student told cops that she was walking to her vehicle on the afternoon in question when a black man grabbed her from behind, restrained her, then raped her.

Zolkowski said she couldn’t provide a detailed description because she “kind of blacked out.” However, she claimed the assailant jumped into the passenger seat of a car and fled.

The outlet reported that police grew suspicious after learning that Zolkowski had dropped her classes before—not after—the February 22 incident. At one point they reinterviewed the student, who switched up her story and said she was actually raped by acquaintance earlier that day at his apartment.

The acquaintance told officers that their sexual encounter was consensual and presented them with texts that showed Zolkowski stating she was raped by a stranger at Walmart after they broke up. She also asked him to not participate in the criminal investigation, according to MLive.

Zolkowski told the court in March that she been sexually assaulted, but not at Delta College. During the same hearing, her lawyer claimed his client was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder and is receiving treatment.

She said, “And because I was ashamed of circumstances of that [sexual assault], when my mother called, I vented through Delta, which was very wrong of me. I should have been truthful from the very beginning, and I used Delta.”

[Feature Image: Mary Zolkowski/Bay County Jail]