Shannon Maley had a seeming vendetta against a 20-year-old man with learning disabilities who was dating her sister. She barely knew him, yet claimed he sexually assaulted her and her friends. Maley then created multiple social media accounts under the young man’s name and sent herself disturbing and threatening messages in order to frame him.
She has since pleaded guilty to “perverting the course of justice and also to harassing witnesses,” The Daily Record reported.
The young man, who will not be named by The Daily Wire because he is the victim and will instead be referred to as John Doe, told the Record he was on the brink of suicide until he was acquitted last November on five charges of sexual assault. The outlet reported that he “sat on the ledge of his 14th-storey flat window seriously contemplating whether life was worth living because of the vicious lies that had ‘destroyed’ him.”
Maley’s messages to herself included threats “to set you on fire and watch you burn alive” and claims that John was “not going to stop causig [sic] you pain.”
Maley had apparently intimidated her friends into making accusations against John as well. One of those friends eventually admitted that the young man had not sexually assaulted her and that Maley had harassed her and tried to influence their testimony at John’s trial.
John was also accused of sexually assaulting two 15-year-old girls who were also allegedly friends of Maley. A witness explained that John didn’t do what he was accused of doing, leading to acquittal on those charges.
Maley’s story unraveled after she accused John of sending a threatening message while he was in prison without access to the Internet.
No reason has been given for Maley’s vendetta against John, and the young man still fears for his safety.
“It feels like Shannon Maley has destroyed my life. I still can’t walk down Coatbridge Main Street without people shouting abuse at me,” John told the outlet. “I’ve had voicemails from people I don’t even know saying they’re going to blow up my house.”
“Unfortunately, people believe what they see online and it’s a very dangerous situation. I walked free from court and now she’s admitted making up all these messages and telling witnesses what to say,” he added. “She’s an absolute monster.”
John also told the Record that he tried to slit his wrist while he was on remand, which is what led to him being relocated. But he was relocated to an apartment on the 14th floor, and he sat on the ledge and contemplated jumping.
“But I didn’t want to die because of someone else’s lies,” he told the outlet. “I’m happy I didn’t, because now I will hopefully see her punished for ruining my life.”
He said he would like to thank the woman who came forward to admit Maley was lying, but that he still doesn’t “feel safe to walk the streets because of what Maley has made people think about me.”
His mother said that she received angry messages from around the world, including in America, where any accusation made by a woman is supposed to be believed.
“She saw [John] as an easy victim because even though he’s 20, his difficulties mean he has a mind more like a young teenager,” his mother told the Record. “Like [John], I want to see her punished for the devastation she has caused.”