Fabrication Seems Real: A Word Of Caution To Investigators

Do not fall for everything you hear and see. People can create, frame and stage events to make them seem real. When emotions take the better part of us, reason is often relegated to the background.

In the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, the allegation against Joseph seemed real by all standards and from all angles, yet it was mere fiction.

A case from a district

In a district where I served as District Director of Education for three years, a headteacher of a local primary school was accused of raping two Class 4 pupils at the same time in the same room when they sent books to his house.

He was arrested and placed in police custody for two days without recourse to the Education Directorate.

When I insisted on due process—a medical report and other investigative procedures—it was revealed that the entire story was fabricated. The little girls had been coached.

What was his offense to warrant this?
Nothing, except that he was perceived by the community as a “lover boy”—a young, handsome and admired headteacher whom many young girls in the community followed and admired. Because these girls admired him, they were not giving in to the advances of some young men in the community. Out of jealousy and resentment, those young men conspired and used the children as a tool to pull him down.

In our communities, children’s testimonies are often taken as the truth, nothing but the truth, without questioning. While we must always listen to and protect children, listening must not replace investigation.

A recent case from social media

This brings to mind the case of Benedict Loveridge Yartey, widely shared on Facebook.

A little over a year ago, his name was dragged all over social media. An unsubstantiated sexual allegation was made via social media by a student, Anastasia Odametey, against him as Chief Executive of The British Columbia College School.

Public judgment was swift.
Today, the girl has admitted she lied. She almost totally destroyed the dignity and reputation of a man seeking to do better for kids. As shared by a lawyer who encountered the matter in court, only God knows what this man has had to endure. All he ever wanted was to clear his name.

As the post concluded: “Sexual allegations destroy people #StopTheLies.”

A word to investigators

When people plan together to work against you, their orchestration can be perfectly executed, garnering support from all angles until society accepts it.

In school settings, we must be even more discerning, because “role play” is part of pedagogy. Learners can act so convincingly that fiction appears factual.

People in the past have been imprisoned, banished or ostracized based on false testimonies that seemed real because no one questioned them.

Therefore, an investigator must:

1. Separate emotion from facts.
2. Insist on corroboration—medical reports, timelines, opportunity.
3. Interrogate the logic. For example, if a victim claims she was beaten for refusing sexual access, we must pause. A perpetrator would normally seek silence, not beating, since beating would make the victim scream and raise an alarm.
4. Establish motive. Who benefits from the allegation?
5. Remember that fabrication, though false, is often well-rehearsed and looks real.

Let us fight sexual harassment decisively, but let us ensure justice is done through professional, impartial and painstaking investigation.