A Pennsylvania woman says she was raped, but when she showed police audio evidence of the assault, she was charged with several felonies after a judge said she made the recording without the man’s consent.
Veronika Rodriguez, 26, an Annville, PA, Air National Guard employee, said the man lied and told her he was new to town and a doctor, so she agreed to spend time with him, PennLive reported. She says he bought her several drinks that night and got physical with her in his car, and she became so uncomfortable because of the questions he was asking that night she started recording their conversation.
Amid the man’s sexual advances, she said no and asked him to stop, but she needed him to drive her home. At one point, she said he kissed her so hard it made her nose bleed, and they had to stop for tissues. However, the harassment continued, which she says resulted in rape. A GoFundMe launched to cover Rodriquez’s legal fees says her audio recording proves the encounter was non-consensual.
Filing a false report and wiretapping charges
Three days later, Rodriguez reported the attack, but local police arrested her instead for filing a false report and wiretapping charges. Pennsylvania police dismissed the allegations because she didn’t report them the same night she said it happened, despite the fact the military dismissed the accused rapist, and she had an audio recording of the attack, in which she can be heard telling him no and to stop.
Police also said she at first told someone else the encounter was consensual, which is not uncommon for rape victims, and that she continued to contact the man, including sending him a topless photo, authorities failing to notice she was badly bruised in the picture and she told him, it looks like I’ve been attacked. Before she contacted the police, she also reportedly shared the audio recording with a friend, who is a cop, asking him what she should do.
After Rodriguez’s charges were filed, the alarming situation went viral, and on Thursday, a Lebanon County judge signed a gag order preventing Rodriquez and her family from speaking publicly about the case.
Rodriquez GoFundMe says, “Over these two years, Veronika’s family has endured immense stress, pouring thousands of dollars into fighting these baseless charges. Legal counsel, expert witnesses, and travel expenses have piled up, leaving her loved ones burdened with overwhelming debt. The financial strain has only added to the emotional toll this flawed investigation has taken on them all.”
The fact Rodriguez has been accused of recording and sharing the recording of the man without his consent in a rape case has elicited strong emotions on social media. “So you can’t record something that happened to you without your consent unless the person violating your consent gives you consent to record something they’re doing to you without your consent?? I can’t quite put my finger on it,” one comment said.
“The whole ‘you’re not allowed to be recording me’ thing, I’m pretty sure that only applies when you’re going to be uploading the video footage. So everyone who has dash cams are collecting felonies? 😂” another TikTok post comment added. And finally, another said, “This brought me to tears.”
The Rodriguez story is developing, but it’s encouraging to note her GoFundMe had a $2,000 goal but, as of this report, had raised more than $7,500 to help “Veronika and her family cover the immense legal expenses and debt they’ve endured while fighting for her name, her dignity, and her voice,” the campaign’s page says.