Woman admits false rape, assault claims

A woman who falsely claimed she was raped by a man two years ago has pleaded guilty to five perjury charges in Victoria’s County Court.

A lawyer for Makaela Bacon, 21, said she was remorseful and that a series of mental health struggles led to her fabrication that the man sexually assaulted her, attacked her with a weapon and threatened to kill.

“[She] clearly was not thinking things through in a calm and measured way,” her barrister Tim Marsh told the court on Monday.

Bacon made false police reports on eight separate occasions between February and March 2020, which led to the man being arrested at least twice.

Police grew suspicious about Bacon’s story after she supplied evidence in the form of text message screenshots, which she alleged to be from the man.

The messages detailed the alleged sexual assault but police noticed inconsistencies and later discovered Bacon had sent the texts to herself using a fake account.

The prosecution said while Bacon’s actions were premeditated, harmful to the man and caused the diversion of important police resources on multiple occasions, her mental health problems must be taken into account.

Mr Marsh argued that his client is undergoing mental health treatment and is therefore not a risk to the community while requesting non-custodial sentencing.

Judge Peter Rozen ordered a pre-sentence report to assess Bacon’s suitability for a community corrections order and she will be sentenced on September 13.

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