Looking back over the rising number of false allegations of sex crimes over the past decade, intentionally brought by those who enjoy inflicting pain of all varieties on others, one has to wonder, how did this happen? How did innocent people, who committed no crimes at all, end up being accused, jailed and even wrongfully convicted? The answer, albeit difficult to face, is a simple one: we as a society have fallen asleep at the switch in this matter, and by doing so, have allowed ourselves to become legally defenseless against anyone who is spiteful or vindictive enough to bring false criminal charges against us.

"The best defense is a good offense" is a saying that doesn’t just apply to effective football strategy. Without the protection of a strong legal deterrent, in the form of a felony offense to use against someone who chooses either to falsely accuse one of us or a person we love or threaten to bring a criminal accusation, it is very difficult to defend ourselves. Even if some of us can hire a high-priced attorney, there is no guarantee we will not be wrongfully convicted of a crime we never committed. Our jails and prisons have many inmates who are there solely due to the ineffective assistance of counsel.

As a civilized society, we have two choices. Choice #1: continue to do nothing but complain about the situation as it exists now, which will serve no useful purpose other than to keep giving false accusers the upper hand and hold us hostage to physical, emotional and financial blackmail. Or we can go with choice #2: demand that our legislators, our elected officials, put one or more laws into effect that will give those innocent of crimes a legal and non-violent way to fight back against those who would or have falsely accused us or someone we love of a sex crime, or for that matter, any type of crime at all. One very effective "legal weapon" against false accusers would be a new felony offense, simply titled "Terrorism By Extortion."

My edition of Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines terrorism quite simply: "the systematic use of terror as a means of coercion." People who deliberately bring false accusations of crime against another, or threaten to do so, either out of spite, to satisfy a personal grudge or realize a financially-motivated agenda, are guilty of exactly that, even though they are not holding a gun or knife to our heads. Merely a threat to bring criminal action against us will be enough to cause terror in our hearts as to what that will actually involve.

Our first fear is the worry about the cost of having to hire a criminal defense attorney. Those with little or no discretionary income or those on the edge of poverty won’t have that option at all. For anyone who cannot afford the services of either an attorney or investigator, the prospect of jail if a false accuser makes good on a threat to bring false charges to the police quickly becomes a terrifying reality. Anyone who has been falsely accused can and will personally attest that the personal consequences of a false allegation are nothing short of disastrous. He or she can be arrested and be put in the local jail until their preliminary hearing or trial, which could take one to several months.