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News / Northwest

Rape lie recanted; Kalama man freed after 9 years

The Columbian
Published: April 1, 2012, 5:00pm

LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — The Cowlitz County prosecutor says she won’t charge a Longview woman who admitted she lied when she said her father raped her — sending him to prison for more than nine years.

Prosecutor Sue Baur says charging Cassandra Kennedy might discourage girls from reporting sexual assaults.

Now 23 years old, Kennedy says guilt prompted her to tell police in January that she lied as an 11-year-old in 2001 in Kalama.

The Daily News reports (http://is.gd/3F53OU ) her father, Thomas Edward Kennedy, denied the allegation but was convicted by a jury and sentenced in 2002 to more than 15 years in prison.

Now 43, Kennedy was released last week and all charged against him were dismissed.

Cassandra Kennedy says she lied because she was disappointed in her father after her parents divorced.

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Information from: The Daily News, http://www.tdn.com

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