The woman who told police she was the victim of a vicious hate crime last month was charged with making a false report Tuesday afternoon and pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge.
Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Charlie Rogers Tuesday morning. She was released on a personal recognizance bond after a brief court appearance at 1:30.
Authorities plan a news conference for 2:30.
Rogers, 33, told police three masked men broke into her apartment on July 22, tied her up, carved anti-gay slurs into her skin and tried to light her house on fire.
In the arrest warrant, first reported by the Journal Star, investigators say they found no sign of a struggle in the living room where Rogers said she was attacked on her bed.
“There was no apparent blood on the bedspread; even though Ms. Rogers reported she was rolled on to her stomach after she had been cut on her arms, abdomen, chest and front of her legs while being held down,” the warrant says.
Rogers had told police that after binding her with zip ties one of the men held her down while another cut derogatory words into her arms and abdomen, sliced a cross into her chest and cut the front of her thighs and shins.
A forensic pathologist contacted by the FBI, which assisted in the investigation, said she believes Rogers made the cuts herself or they were done with her permission.
The cuts looked superficial and symmetrical, avoided sensitive areas of the body and would’ve taken considerable time to inflict, pathologist Michelle Elieff said in the warrant. Moreover, they’re in places accessible to the victim and follow her frame of reference.
Police found a pile of clothes, white knit gloves and a red box cutter on the living room floor. Rogers said the gloves did not belong to her, but DNA testing determined she was “the major contributor” of DNA inside of them, the warrant says.
Investigators discovered that white knit gloves, zip ties, blades and a red utility knife were purchased July 17 at a hardware store on 27th Street. During an interview, Rogers told police she shops at that store.
Investigators then showed a clerk at the store a photo lineup and the clerk picked Rogers from the lineup and identified her as the person who bought the items, the arrest warrant says.