Stanford employee admits to fabricating rape charge against co-worker, faces charges

An employee at Stanford University is facing felony charges after admitting that the rape allegations she leveled at a coworker last year were fabricated. The claims made by Jennifer Gries, 25, sparked campus-wide unrest, kicked off a $300,000 investigation by the school, and netted her a substantial amount of money via the California Victim of Crimes Board.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney's office revealed that Gries now faces two counts of felony perjury for lying to officials, along with two misdemeanor counts of knowingly inducing another person to give false testimony pertaining to a crime. Stanford has also since placed her on a leave of absence.



According to the district attorney's office, Gries told county sexual assault forensic exam personnel in August of 2022 that she had been attacked by a black man in a campus garage restroom. In October, she claimed to have been attacked again, this time in a storage closet. 

On both occasions, she was given a sexual assault examination kit, however, the ensuing lab results "were not consistent with her story." The district attorney's office revealed that the evidence showed that the Gries "made up the stories due to being angry at a co-worker."

Gries allegedly told an acquaintance that she had been in a relationship with a co-worker who fit the description of the man she accused of raping her, and against whom she previously filed an unsubstantiated sexual harassment complaint. 

As the New York Post reports, the man was interviewed by detectives in January, where he called Gries' actions "disgusting" and said, "I don't feel human at all."

Gries eventually apologized to the man, but he said the incident had "scarred" him.

"This is a rare and deeply destructive crime," the district attorney's office said. "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 sexual assault victims who wonder if they will be believed."

Stanford echoed those sentiments, calling the false reports "damaging, both for true survivors of sexual assault and for the members of our community who experienced fear and alarm from the reports."