A woman in Spain falsely claimed her ex-boyfriend kidnapped her in front of her home in October 2016, leading to him spending several days in jail before CCTV footage revealed she lied about the crime.
Vanesa Gesto accused her ex-boyfriend, whom the Daily Wire will not name because he is innocent, of kidnapping her outside her home and then dumping her, semi-naked, elsewhere after pouring superglue into her vagina. She told police that her ex-boyfriend abducted her in a black car.
The ex-boyfriend was arrested and spent several days in jail before Gesto’s lies were uncovered, the Daily Mail reported.
CCTV cameras showed Gesto buying what police called a “kidnap kit,” including knives she used to slash herself, from a Chinese-run supermarket in Bembimbre. Additional footage showed that the only vehicle that drove past the area where she claimed she was kidnapped was a garbage truck, not the car she claimed her ex drove.
The Mail reported that on Thursday, Gesto was convicted in the Spanish city of Leon on two counts of making a false police report. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison, a lengthy sentence for a woman who made up a false claim against a man. Typically, women who falsely accuse men of crimes — especially crimes of a sexual nature — receive little to no punishment, especially in America.
Prosecutors in the case, according to the Mail, requested Gesto be sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison.
In addition to her lengthy prison sentence, Gesto was ordered to pay her ex-boyfriend €25,000, or just over $29,000.
The outlet further reported that “Gesto’s original lawyer Emilia Esteban cut ties with her former client after it emerged she had tried to frame [the ex-boyfriend] over the made-up October 2016 crime.”
“I always believed Vanesa and that’s why I defended her. I feel humiliated and deceived,” Esteban said.
The brother of Gesto’s ex-boyfriend, maintained the falsely accused man’s innocence, telling police from the minute the accusations were lodged that his brother was sleeping when the alleged attack was said to have occurred.
“Our mum spent days crying after he was arrested,” the brother said.
Gesto was called the “Glue Liar’ in Spain.
A sentence of 10 years is rarely given to women who falsely accuse men of crimes. The most recent similar example is that of Jemma Beale, the British fabulist who made numerous false accusations over a three-year period. Beale accused six men of sexual assault and nine of rape. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison. In March 2019, her appeal for her perjury and perverting the course of justice convictions was upheld. The Court of Appeal denied Beale’s claims that the jury was not provided directions about the “danger of assumptions, myths and stereotypes” regarding alleged victims of sexual abuse, the BBC reported at the time. An appellate judge argued that usually only applied for victims, not defendants, and that Beale had harmed the justice system with her lies.
“The idea that a woman could send an innocent man to prison for years solely so she could obtain compensation beggars belief,” the judge said.