South Dakota woman pleads guilty after making false rape claim in Hillsborough County
TAMPA, Fla. - A South Dakota woman traveled all the way to the Tampa Bay area to cheat on her husband, but she ended up facing criminal charges.
Renee Skoglund filed a false police report that has now landed her in legal hot water.
Prosecutors said Skoglund's trail of lies started on March 8 when she decided to have a one-night stand.
"She had consensual sexual intercourse with an individual in Hillsborough County," prosecutor Jessica Couvertier explained to the court. "Then she felt guilty about it because of her marital status, and she wanted to get checked out for a sexually transmitted disease."
But she wanted to get tested for free. So, she decided to lie again, and called 911.
"I was just raped, like 45 minutes ago," sobbed Skoglund on a recorded call.
Prosecutors said she went on to make up a story about having car trouble on I-75 and pulling over to the side of the road.
CRIME: Convicted sex offender accused of hiding criminal past with Tampa’s elite pleads guilty
"An unknown male approached her, put a towel over her head and forced her into the backseat of her car," recounted Couvertier.
Skogland then claimed her attacker used a rope to tie her hands and feet and then sexually assaulted her. She told investigators her face was covered, so she wasn’t able to describe her attacker.
Her story started to unravel when police check her cell phone and found Walmart surveillance video of Skoglund buying the rope herself. She cracked under the pressure, and confessed to making the whole thing up.
She was charged with making a false police report and decided to take a plea deal.
Tampa Judge Laura Ward couldn’t believe the level of her deceit.
READ: Man arrested after deputies catch him with pants down watching woman through bathroom window: PCSO
"I have never sentenced somebody for perjury, but it’s a good reminder to everyone that perjury is a crime and all the stuff you made up and the resources expended on it, could’ve been used and probably needed to be used, by other cases that were real," admonished Ward.
In exchange for her guilty plea, Skoglund will serve two years of community control and eight years of probation. She will also have to repay the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office $17,245.26 for all the resources used to investigate her fake rape claim.