A Stanford employee was arrested on Wednesday by Santa Clara Police Department after allegedly lying about being raped on campus twice last year and making false accusations against a Black male co-worker as a revenge plot scheme.
Jennifer Gries is a 25-year-old white female who served as Housing Service Center Supervisor. Her web of lies against the Black male employee started because she thought he gave her “false intentions” and turned other co-workers against her, according to court documents.
Gries made a report on Aug. 9, 2022, to the county’s sexual assault forensic exam nurses at Stanford Hospital that she was attacked by a Black man inside one of the campus parking garages, according to Santa Clara District Attorney’s office. She said that she did not want police involved but signed a consent form to acknowledge that the nurse was a mandated reporter who must inform law enforcement of the incident.
On Oct. 7, 2022, Gries returned to Stanford Hospital with another alleged rape complaint. This time she told the nurse that she was attacked coming back from lunch. She claimed the Black male grabbed her arm and forced her to the basement storage closet of the building she worked at and raped her, according to Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
She described the male as being Black, slender, young, 6 feet, and in his late 20s. She again signed another consent form to acknowledge the nurse was a mandated reporter.
The rape incidents triggered campus-wide alerts and put the campus at unease. It was reported that a campus-wide protest happened in October, and students demanded university officials do more to protect them.
In the midst of her deceit and lies, she was awarded public money through the California Victim of Crimes Board, according to reports. Applicants of the program could be awarded up to $70,000, but it is not clear how much money Gries received.
The DA’s office said that neither of her lab results from the rape kits was consistent with what she said in her report.
An investigation launched by the Stanford University Department of Public Safety revealed that Gries made a sexual harassment complaint against a Black male coworker in March 2022.
The DA’s office said this week that SUDPS also was told by Gries then that she was in a relationship with that co-worker, was sexually assaulted by him, and became pregnant with twins before miscarrying. None of those claims was substantiated. The co-worker’s appearance matches the one she would later describe to nurses as that of her unknown-to-her Black male attacker in the two false rape claims.
Text messages to a co-worker revealed that Gries made up this whole plot to get back at the Black male.
“Can’t I just make his life a living hell myself, “Gries texted her coworker about the alleged assault. “I need to start standing up for myself … I am so annoyed … I’m coming up with a plan. That way he’s s*****g his pants for multiple days.”
On Jan. 24, investigators from the DA office interviewed Gries, and she admitted to lying about the alleged rapes. She also wrote an apology letter to the Black male that she falsely accused.
“This is a rare and deeply destructive crime,” said District Attorney Jeff Rosen in a prepared statement. “Our hearts go out to the falsely accused. Our hearts go out to students who had to look over their shoulders on their way to class. Our hearts go out to legitimate sexual assault victims who wonder if they will be believed.”
The Black male falsely accused told the DA’s office that this was a traumatic experience even though she never named him as the attacker.
“This is disgusting. I don’t feel human. I don’t feel human at all,” according to the Black male statement to the DA’s office.
Gries faces felony perjury charges, among other charges. It is reported that Stanford spent $300,000 for the investigation of the case and security for the campus.
“These false reports are damaging, both for true survivors of sexual assault and for the members of our community who experienced fear and alarm from the reports. We also want to emphasize that both false reports and outcomes such as this one are extremely rare in sexual assault cases,” Stanford officials said in a statement.
