Man Falsely Accused of Rape Awarded $1.8 Million in Damages

Twelve years ago, amid bitter divorce proceedings, Vladek Filler was accused of having sexually assaulted his spouse. And worse.

The allegations began after he told wife Ligia he’d take their two sons to Georgia to live near his mother.

That threat prompted quite the eye-raising response: According to the University of Michigan’s National Registry of Exonerations, she “ran into the street from the family home holding one of the boys, yelling that she wanted to kill her husband for molesting and abusing their children and that she feared he would kill their 12-year-old son.”

Not good.

Ligia told police that Filler sexually assaulted her against her will. The children were removed from the home and put in foster homes and Filler was charged with felony gross sexual assault and misdemeanor assault.

But:

By the time Filler went to trial in Hancock County Superior Court in January 2009, a state social services investigation had found no evidence of any abuse of the children and Filler had been awarded custody of the two boys.

Nevertheless, Vladek was convicted — of one count of gross sexual assault and two counts of misdemeanor assault.

At the trial, Ligia testified that Filler forced her to have sex against her will when he became angry. She said that in April 2007, he raped her on a clothes dryer because she used his bank account to pay for getting her hair cut and used their car when he intended to use it. She also testified that he physically assaulted her in December 2005 and on April 20, 2007.

A physician testified that he could find no signs of sexual abuse. A police officer testified that Ligia had a bruise on her arm which she said was the result of Filler’s abuse.

As it turns out, a testifying nurse friend of Ligia’s — Linda Gleason — had told the sour spouse to cry on the stand to make it more believable.

Vladek requested a new trial on the basis that Ligia’s attorney had made improper arguments in court. His request was granted. In 2011, he was deemed guilty again — this time of one misdemeanor assault charge.

During the previous dissolution proceedings, divorce court had found no evidence he’d abused anyone. In fact, it had fingered Ligia making false accusations, threatening murder, and — in fact — physically abusing their children herself.

As for the criminal charges against Vladek, he was exonerated in 2015. He’d served 21 days in jail.

He sued:

Filler filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the prosecutor, police and the city of Gouldsboro in 2015. The lawsuit alleged that a recording of an interview of Ligia by a nurse was edited to exclude a portion where the nurse advised Ligia to cry when she testified so that the rape would seem more real. The lawsuit was settled for $375,000 in September 2018.

So what of Linda? In light of Vladek’s “living nightmare,” a district judge in Maine has now ordered the noxious nurse to fork over $1.77 million in damages.

Judge John Woodcock called Linda “extremely culpable” in Vladek’s conviction.

Furthermore:

She has not come clean even to this day. Ms. Gleason did not merely set a ball in motion and watch it roll. She continued to push it, testifying falsely as a witness, adding to her credibility by calling on her professionalism as a nurse. She must have known that he had been wrongfully convicted on two occasions and yet, she never told the truth.”

In response to the ruling, Vladek said the truth had been willfully ignored by authorities:

“From day one, and throughout both criminal trials, the truth was available to the officials involved, but they ignored and suppressed the truth, and deliberately kept it from the eyes and ears of the jury.”

Where does this leave the claims of the Left? Of women wearing pink hats and raging against Brett Kavanaugh (here and here)? Of Alyssa Milano knocking on the door of a congresswoman (here); and also on the door of breathtaking dumbness? What of #BelieveAllWomen (here)?

I guess, despite assertions otherwise, believing the truth is a better guideline.

Otherwise, there can be no justice. Instead, there’s just ice — the freezing of the asset of right, by the useless and sexist wrong of trusting someone due to their genitals. These days, that’s not even a constant — many women don’t even have vaginas (here, here, and here).

At least in the end, Vladek got back his innocence.

If you’re listening, Mr. Filler, here’s a word of advice: In the future, before any hot date, ask the girl this: “Would you ever falsely charge me with molesting kids or raping you on a Kenmore Elite Smart Dryer w/Wrinkle Guard?”

If she nods, pass. You’ve got $1.77 million; you can do better.

-Alex

Relevant RedState links in this article: here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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