A white Virginia woman was sentenced to six months in jail by a Powhatan Circuit Judge on Monday for falsely reporting that she had been attacked by a Black couple this past summer.
Gladys Townsend of Powhatan County pleaded guilty to false report charges and was sentenced to 12 months in jail, with six months suspended.
Powhatan Circuit Judge Paul Cella said the 63-year-old Townsend’s false reporting could have resulted in “devastating consequences.”
On June 30 at 6 p.m., Townsend reported to sheriff’s deputies that she had been assaulted by a Black man and woman in the Richmond suburb. She said she didn’t know the couple and provided a description of their vehicle.
Townsend later admitted that she had lied and that an assault never happened.
“Further investigation by the Powhatan County Sheriff’s Office revealed that the assault did not occur,” Chief Deputy Jeffrey Searfoss said days after the accusation was made, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. “Townsend confessed to fabricating the assault and she has been charged with filing a false police report.”
Authorities now say there is no evidence the Black couple even exists.
Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Cerullo said Monday, Nov. 2, that Townsend’s comments were dangerous “because of the times we are living in,” adding that the false accusation “could have led to very bad repercussions in society,” the Daily Progress reported.
Townsend’s attorney, Noel Brooks, said she suffers from bipolar disorder, anxiety, and depression, and requested a fully suspended sentence. Brooks also said a minimal amount of resources were expended because Townsend admitted that the accusation was false early on.
Judge Cella said Townsend’s actions could not be justified and characterized her actions as “lighting a match to a tinder box,” in today’s racial climate.
When Townsend was arrested she said the made the false accusation because she “was just upset.”
At the time, an investigator understood Townsend’s comments to mean that she was upset about the Black Lives Matter protests that erupted across the nation over the summer.
Townsend could be released in as little as three months on good behavior.
