Renee Dawn Skoglund was sentenced for fabricating a rape claim. (Mugshot: Hillsborough County Sherriff’s Office)
A married woman made up a rape claim because she regretted her one-night stand and wanted to get a free STD test, a prosecutor said, according to WTVT.
The sentencing hearing in a Tampa, Florida, courtroom, on Monday closes the book on the case against Renee Dawn Skoglund, 30. She reportedly must spend two years on community control and eight years on probation. Skoglund must also pay the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office $17,245.26 in restitution for all the work they had to do chasing down her fabricated rape claim.
“This case is truly disheartening,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said when announcing announcing the arrest in March. “There are far too many victims faced with this type of trauma. This woman took advantage of our 911 emergency line and diverted attention from actual victims who need the viable resources available in these investigative scenarios.”
Skoglund had consensual sex with a person in Hillsborough County, prosecutor Jessica Couvertier said, according to WTVT.
“Then she felt guilty about it because of her marital status, and she wanted to get checked out for a sexually transmitted disease,” she said.
Wanting to get tested for free, Skoglund called 911.
“I was just raped, like 45 minutes ago,” Skoglund reportedly said, sobbing.
Skoglund, who was visiting the area from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, claimed that she was driving along Interstate 75 but had to pull over because of car troubles.
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She claimed the attacker blindfolded her and tied her with rope inside her rental car. Skoglung said she could not identify the individual because she could not see.
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Detectives learned that Walmart sold the same rope, according to Hillsborough County deputies. Hoping to find an attacker, investigators checked out multiple locations, but they instead found Skoglund purchasing the rape just eight hours before the alleged attack.
Detectives kept digging. Footage from multiple places undermined her story.
Skoglund reported the alleged attack to Sioux Falls cops for medical services after she returned home, but investigators confronted her with the evidence, according to Hillsborough County deputies.
Authorities said she confessed.
“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,” Judge Laura Ward said, according to WTVT.
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