Police: Texas teen lied about kidnapping, gang-rape by ‘three black males’

A Denison, Texas, woman who claimed she was kidnapped and gang-raped admitted the story was a sham, police announced Wednesday.

Breana Harmon Talbott, 18,—only dressed in a bra, shirt, and underwear—told churchgoers she was abducted by three black men in ski masks. According to The Washington Post, the 18-year-old’s fiancee reported her missing on March 8 after discovering her car, with the driver’s door open, in the parking lot of her apartment complex. Her keys, phone, and a shoe were located nearby.

Talbott turned up three hours later at the New Creation Church, two miles away from her apartment. Though the woman said she was gang-raped in the woods by three assailants, police said medical examiners “were unable to corroborate that Talbott had been sexually assaulted,” according to the New York Daily News.

The teen supposedly confessed to fabricating the entire incident on Tuesday. In addition to staging the crime scene, she caused the cuts and injuries to her body prior to walking into the church, a statement released on Wednesday by Denison Police Chief Jay Burch revealed.

Talbott is expected to be charged with making a false report to a peace officer, a misdemeanor. The police department also plans to seek reimbursement for the “significant costs” associated with the investigation.

Chief Burch also pointed out that Talbott’s fabrication was “especially offensive” to African Americans in the community.

“This alleged crime as reported by Breana Harmon Talbott made many in the community fearful there were individuals abducting women,” the statement read. “Even though we know the story to be a hoax, there is still potential damage to the reputation of the City of Denison and the Texoma region as many may remember the reported crime but not the outcome. That is unfortunate.”

[Feature Photo: Denison Police Department]