Tue. Dec 10th, 2024

Opinion Piece By Donna Westfall – October 19, 2017 – After researching , witnessing and reporting on the Bryan Ranger “rape” case, it occurs to me that there’s an entire category of the law that is missing.  That is; what happens to girls/women who falsely cry, “rape.”

Should there be consequences?  Should they be listed as a special breed of sex offenders?  Should they be listed on a registry of “false rape accusers?” Should their punishment be equal to the sentence meted out to those they falsely accuse?

Do men need rape shield laws of their own? Once a man is falsely accused of rape, convicted and sentenced, then trying to prove their innocence is a daunting task. Reputations are ruined.

In the Ranger case which had not one shred of forensic evidence, the only “real rape” that took place appears to be when Mercy Ranger at age 14, seduced by an older man,  had sex with Marcus Nash, her landlord’s son, who was in his 40’s.  That’s called, Statutory Rape because at 14 years old, the theory is that she’s not of an age to consent.

When the Crescent City-Del Norte County Taxpayers Association looked into the case after learning that Bryan Ranger was kept in jail for years without a trial, the only thing that made any sense after evaluating the reams of documents was that they agreed with the psychologist’s evaluation that Bryan did not fit the profile of a “rapist,” nor “child abuser.”  Had Mercy Ranger simply told the truth in 2013 in Family Court before Judge Follett about her sexual involvement with Marcus Nash, we have to wonder would the case against her father been dropped?

The only thing that made any sense was that Mercy was protecting Marcus Nash and in reality, the truth came out in 2014 when she confessed to the Attorney for the Prosecution, Joyce Blair, and Department of Justice Special Agent, Heather Nelsen, about having sex with Marcus. At that point, Mercy was living with Sasha Upton, Nash’s mother, going to college, riding horses and living a life without the strict fundamentalist Christian moral values instilled by her biological parents.  And when asked during Bryan’s trial if she had sex with Marcus, she admitted on the stand, “Yes.”

So, the local Tax Association deduced the truth before knowing the truth because it was the only thing that made any sense. Then, after the June trial when witnesses for the defense came forward angry about his Public Defender, William Cater, throwing his case, it was disclosed that telephone calls had been recorded between Bryan Ranger’s wife and Marcus Nash wherein Nash said, “… everyone knew there was no sexual abuse, …and had the Ranger’s signed guardianship papers over to Sasha Upton, Bryan would not be in jail, and the rest of his family consisting of eight children would still be intact.” This, however, does not help Bryan’s future who now faces over 100 years in prison. But, who is, in our opinion, an innocent man falsely accused and now convicted of rape and more.

In my opinion, there needs to be severe consequences for false rape accusers:

  • Restitution? Absolutely!
  • Being on a list? Certainly, so that people of the public can check just like they do a sex offender’s list!
  • Face criminal charges?  For sure!
  • Serve time in jail/prison equal to time served by those falsely convicted? Definitely!
  • Face libel and defamation charges in civil court? It only makes sense!

Just like Megan’s Law created in the 1990’s after the murder of seven year old Megan Kanka by a sex offender that moved in across the street; Megan’s Law requires law enforcement authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders; there should be a false rape accusers law. I suggest naming it Bryan’s Law for 67 year old Bryan Ranger who will probably spend the rest of his life in prison.

Another question to be explored; is there a cottage industry in this town of putting children into foster homes and adopting them out for profit often to abusive homes?

 

 

 

 

17 thoughts on “What should happen to women who falsely cry “rape?””
  1. Gossip destroys lives and this is exactly what happened to this man. What went on in their homes is really none of anyone’s business and I know Marcus Nash and yes he likes young girls always has. When a girl cries wolf on rape, I feel that yes she should be punished and that the person she charged falsely should be able to publicly get an apology plus some type of compensation as the girls do with Victim Witness. I have seen the cry rape scam pulled on so many boys, just so parents and girls can get Victim Witness funding, which is bullshit and sooner or later will ruin it for the those who truly do need it.

  2. You should be writing an article about marcus nash getting away for his wrong or her mother can report it.. That does not excuse what her father did..

  3. I have met this mother… She is so brainwashed by her poor excuse of a husband… This is a small town.. I dont know the children personally but have seen them around town… I know ppl that know them… The poor kids couldnt even have an opinion or a voice aroubd there so called husband… And your wrong ANYONE who knew of the sexual relations could press charges…. But your saying “What should happen to women who falsely cry “rape?” i dont think she falsely cried rape for one and neither the courts so that is your OPINION… And two what about all the rapests that get away with it because of lack of evidence your saying the victims should get punished for coming forward? This whole case is stupid the parents are psycho and so are you….

    1. Amy, if ANYONE could press charges for a sex crime, then why is Marcus Nash not being investigated. That statement of yours is not accurate. There is something going on in this case that has bugged me from the very first time I heard a man had spent 4 years in jail without trial in Del Norte. Please know that there is a hell of a lot more to the story here. Something still doesn’t sit right, regardless of whether Mr. Ranger should rot in jail or not. Something has been wrong with this case from the beginning.

      Marcus Nash needs to be investigated for the alleged sex crime(s). The accusations are credible.

  4. It is funny how someone that is supposedly trying to tell the story can be so one sided… You cannot say someone is lying or telling the truth, you were not there… You’re just taking the side of a psycho brainwashed so called mother and insisting that Mercy is lying… You sound as crazy as the crazy mother.. I hope he gets in trouble for what he did. I’m glad he is in jail instead of torturing more people… You are right on one thing if she did in fact have consentual sex with an adult then he should be in trouble for statutory rape.. But even if she did CHOOSE to do that, that does not excuse what her so called father did to her… Let justice be served

    1. At 14 years old, it was up to Mercy’s parents whether to bring statutory rape charges. It wasn’t up to Mercy. BUT, the only way Marcus Nash could guarantee he would escape prosecution for statutory rape was to take Mercy’s parents out of the picture. The evidence shows this is exactly what happened. The recording indicates Marcus Nash admitted he knew the allegations were bogus. The ploy worked and Marcus Nash escaped prosecution. This is the evidence that was never raised at trial. I advocate for fair trials and Mr. Ranger didn’t get one.

      If he got a fair trial and got convicted, there’d be no further issue in this case.

  5. Donna Westfall obviously did not investigate the case very well because these kids are not going to lie about the things that have been done to them…

    1. michawhite2017 – you need to answer my questions before I will print any more of your comments. Here they are again:
      How long have you been around this case?
      How many of the court documents have you read?
      How many hearings did you attend?
      How many times did you talk with Marcus Nash?
      How many times did you listen to his tape recorded phone conversations with Judy Ranger, the kids biological mother?
      How many days did you sit in court at the Bryan Ranger trial?

      And finally, kids lie all the time, particularly when it looks like they have been brainwashed by organizations like CPS, by their adoptive parents and in particular by a sister’s influence.

    2. Anonymous, I have no idea whether the kids at the Ranger trial may have lied or been coached, but I have read the history of the Salem Witch trials. Interesting reading for anyone unaware of how far wrong things can go at trial.

  6. I want to set this straight I’ve been around this case for a very long time now I have never once seen these kids abused since they were brought out of their home if you want to say abused listen to their testimonies listen to the way they’ve came from what they went through Donna Westfall you don’t know the truth you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about and you’re impacting all the lives of these kids by your lies so please take into consideration and let these kids have a break

    1. How long have you been around this case?
      How many of the court documents have you read?
      How many hearings did you attend?
      How many times did you talk with Marcus Nash?
      How many times did you listen to his tape recorded phone conversations with Judy Ranger, the kids biological mother?
      How many days did you sit in court at the Bryan Ranger trial?

    2. Replying to “Anonymous”, Donna investigated and uncovered hard evidence that exonerates Bryan Ranger and reported it. That hard evidence contradicts your rant. If you choose to ignore that evidence and attack Donna by ranting then you’re part of the problem.

  7. First off why would the taxpayers association get involved with this?(another demonstration of abusing taxpayer money). What does that have to do with taxpayers paying unduly taxes such as the fire tax. Secondly these children were courageous to come forth and free themselves of this horrific crime they endured for years of their life. They were isolated and led to believe it was normal what he was doing to them. Had there not been sexual abuse you would not be talking about Marcus Nash.

    And while you were in the court room you attempted to hand Mercy Ranger a folded piece of paper. you claim you were “inviting” her to Dr.Phil show. You have done nothing but write shit about these kids and suddenly you want to “invite” them like you’re their friend. You are not their friend. You are a contributor of their abuse. You are now bullying them through this newspaper. You should be arrested for that. There is a difference between our first right amendment and harassment/bullying. If I were you I would tread very lightly or your headlines will be DONNA WESTFALL ARRESTED FOR BULLYING SEXUALLY MOLESTED CHILDREN.

    1. You’re right, I’m not a friend of Mercy Ranger. I was not “INVITING” her to the Dr. Phil Show. I was asking if she was interested in being on the Dr. Phil Show since the producer asked me to get in touch with Mercy. How again is that bullying?

      As for the taxpayers association getting involved: When millions of dollars are spent on what we believe is a frame-up of an innocent man, and those dollars come from taxpayer dollars, we have every right to get involved. The breakdown of costs to taxpayers is an article planned for the future. Just briefly, there’s jail costs, attorney costs, psychologists costs, court costs, hospital & mental hospital costs, judges costs, investigator costs, foster home costs and adoptive parents costs just to name a few.

      Lastly, don’t forget that one of the Ranger children picketed to have his father freed claiming he was innocent. Refer to article published on March 27, 2017 titled, “Part 1: Why did they picket to FREE an alleged rapist, Bryan Ranger?”

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