Blueblur@Blueblur_23
This is another clear example of how easily a false accusation can destroy a life.
In September 2005, 28-year-old William McCaffrey met 22-year-old Biurny Peguero during a night out in Upper Manhattan. By the next morning, she had told police he raped her at knifepoint.
There was no physical evidence of rape, yet he was still convicted and sentenced to 20 years. He served nearly 4 years before the truth came out.
The Accusation:
On the night of September 17 into the early morning of September 18, 2005, Biurny was out drinking with friends in the Inwood section of Manhattan. She left them and got into a vehicle with William and some companions.
Later that morning, she got into a physical fight with a female friend, which left her with bruises and a bite mark.
She went to a hospital in Jersey City and reported that William and others had kidnapped her and raped her at knifepoint. The only marks on her body were the ones from the fight with her female friend. There was no DNA or other forensic evidence linking William to any sexual assault.
The Conviction:
In October 2006, a jury in New York County Supreme Court convicted William of rape, kidnapping, and related charges. The case rested almost entirely on Biurny’s testimony. The judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison, meaning he would still be behind bars today had it not been for a stunning turn of events.
The DNA Evidence:
In 2008, more advanced testing was performed on the saliva from the bite mark. The DNA came from a female. It could not have come from William.
Even with that result, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office refused to support vacating the conviction.
The Confession:
In March 2009, Biurny went to confession at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Union City, New Jersey. She told the priest, Rev. Zeljko Guberovic, that she had fabricated the entire rape story.
She apparently expected the ritual to end quietly right there, but the priest refused. He told her the only way to make it right was to get a lawyer and get the man out of prison. He pushed her to act.
She then went to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office and formally recanted. She admitted the injuries came from the fight with her female friend and that the rape claim was a lie.
Exoneration:
William was released on bail in September 2009. On December 10, 2009, the same judge who had sentenced him, Justice Richard Carruthers, vacated the conviction and dismissed all charges. The judge expressed personal regret for the injustice. That same month, Biurny pleaded guilty to perjury.
In a January 2010 interview with ABC7 Eyewitness News reporter Sarah Wallace, William was asked if he was not forgiving her. He replied, “I did hard time, very hard time. I don’t forgive her, but I understand.”
On what it was like to be labeled a rapist in prison, he said, “Being a rapist, every day worried about your safety. Every day was like a battlefield.”
Asked whether Biurny should go to prison herself, he replied, “That’s difficult because I’ve been there, it’s terrible. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, but I think she did something wrong. She told a terrible lie, so we will just have to see what happens.”
In February 2010, she was sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison.
Aftermath:
In October 2012, William received $425,000 from the state of New York.
In January 2015, he settled a federal civil rights claim for an additional $700,000.
He died on November 22, 2018, at the age of 41. Those close to him noted that the years of wrongful imprisonment and the lasting stigma of the rape conviction never truly left him.
A single false accusation, backed by no physical evidence of rape, was enough to send an innocent man to prison for nearly 4 years and leave him carrying the damage until his death at 41.
The woman who made the claim received 1 to 3 years for perjury, which is by no means justice, given what was done to him. Even that limited accountability only happened because a priest refused to let her confession remain private.
A woman destroyed a man’s life just because she did not want to admit to her friends that she ditched them. I cannot make this up.