A Greenville, South Carolina man is now facing potentially five years in prison after he was caught lying to police about being raped.
A police report says that 37-year-old Joel Harris Peifer, of Rhett Street, met the authorities on the morning of July 16 at Greenville Memorial Hospital after an alleged sexual assault.
According to NBC affiliate WYFF, Peifer told the story that he met an 18-year-old on Grindr and had consensual sex with him. Then Peifer says he was drugged and raped while he was unconscious.
Taking this accusation seriously, the police asked if they could search Peifer’s apartment for additional evidence, but he told them no because he might have drugs or other illegal paraphernalia inside.
Then, police pulled up a picture of a teen and he claimed it was the one who raped him.
According to Greenville News, the arrest warrant then says that police determined that Peifer’s story was a lie after reading text messages between the two as well as other investigative measures.
Peifer was then arrested on Monday for giving a false report. False reports in South Carolina match the level of the crime originally lied about, so Peifer is facing a first-degree felony charge.
While he was released on bond on Tuesday, according to a spokesperson for the Greenville Police Department, he must return for his first court hearing later on.
If convicted, Joel Harris Peifer could face five years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000.
h/t: WYFF, Greenville News
Meet this guy on line he was a total Kurt and a thief
Not to say it’s okay to lie;
Not to say it's okay to lie; but the motivation for that lie is missing from this story. There has to be more. I'm wondering if he was trying to get PEP treatment and claimed to have been raped in order to get the meds for free. An ER visit, after all, can be quite expensive.