In the scheme of “she said-he said” allegations of rape, there is usually other evidence. It may not conclusively resolve any question of fact, but it’s what distinguishes the utterly baseless accusation from the one that warrants more serious consideration. After all, anyone can tell a story, make an accusation, but contrary to the “believe the victim” narrative, not all stories are remotely grounded in reality. What about Catherine Reddington’s?
Catherine Reddington, 22, claims on social media that Alex Goldman, also 22, raped her vaginally and anally in a bedroom of Syracuse University’s Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity following a party in April 2017.
She went to the police and the university with her accusations, and has posted her brutal tale of assault on Facebook in a campaign that Goldman says got him fired from his summer job and could get him tossed from his new college.
“I woke up in Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity in Alex Goldman’s bed confused, bloody, bruised, with ripped clothing and splinter[s],” Reddington wrote earlier this month. “Alex Goldman is a rapist.”
That’s a horrifying story, with all the standard earmarks of a college rape, including the fraternity factor. Reddington named names, Alex Goldman. This was no passive-aggressive accusation. She went right at him, determined to destroy his world. Except there are no rules of evidence on Facebook.
But Goldman — and the Onondaga County prosecutor — tell a different story of that night.
A months-long investigation, which included a medical exam, rape kit and bloodwork within 26 hours of the incident, found no evidence Reddington was assaulted, drugged or even had a sexual encounter with Goldman, according to court papers and the District Attorney.
The two engineering majors woke up fully clothed in Goldman’s bed, both claiming no memory of the night before.
What exactly happened may not be known, but the evidence shows what didn’t happen. Reddington wasn’t raped. But that wasn’t her “truth.”
Reddington slammed the DA’s letter on Facebook, calling it “disgusting.”
Is it “disgusting” that the evidence contradicts your story? Apparently it was to Syracuse University.
But Reddington’s accusations were enough to get Goldman booted from Syracuse in the fall, he claims. The school said it followed state and federal law in handling the complaint but declined to say why Goldman was expelled.
Even with Goldman’s expulsion, Reddington was dissatisfied with the vengeance she was exacting.
Reddington posted Goldman’s picture, and links to his Facebook and LinkedIn profiles, in lengthy messages detailing the alleged assault, and accuses him of being a serial rapist. She added a #MeToo hashtag and linked to his current school, the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
An accusation may not be triable on social media, but it does a masterful job of tainting a person and destroying their reputation. Syracuse wasn’t taking any chances with being smeared as protecting a rapist, even if he wasn’t a rapist, even if there was no rape as proved by the evidence.
Will NJIT be any stronger, willing to withstand baseless accusations? Goldman’s employer caved to the pressure.
She also posted a screenshot of what appeared to be a message exchange with Goldman’s employer, Bohler Engineering, and crowed that he was fired.
“Due to the severity of the allegations and our zero tolerance policy, we have elected to immediately terminate the employment relationship,” the company replied in the screenshot posted on Reddington’s social media.
“Thank you to everyone for reposting and spreading the word on the monster that Alex Goldman is,” Reddington wrote alongside a post with a message from Bohler. “Thank you to Bohler Engineering for taking a stand against this disgusting excuse of a man.”
And if one false accusation wasn’t enough to do the trick, Reddington doubled down.
“I write this post because this is not the first time Alex Goldman has raped someone and I want to make sure that it is the last,” she claims in a post earlier this month.
Since she’s the victim of her own narrative, can anyone doubt her despite no evidence of one rape, no less two? The Onondaga district attorney says her allegations are “simply not accurate,” but that doesn’t seem to matter to Reddington or anybody else. After all, is it not the time of #MeToo, unproven allegations upon which lives are ruined? Then again, these aren’t merely unproven, but disproven, not that it appears to matter.
Goldman is suing Reddington, presumably for defamation as the complaint isn’t linked in the story. While it’s all he can do, it’s unlikely to bring much solace. He’s been expelled from Syracuse and lost his job. He’s been smeared as a rapist, then a multiple rapist on social media, with pictures. And should he prevail, what will any judgment against Reddington be worth? You can’t get blood from a rock.
To read the comments to Reddington’s Facebook post, one theme is repeated over and over, that she is “so strong and brave.” If you wonder why someone would engage in such bizarre fabrication, it’s all about the “likes,” the social validation and adoration of brave “survivorship,” So what if the evidence says otherwise.
You are what Facebook says you are, and based upon the 1.1k likes, Catherine Reddington was raped and Alex Goldman was her rapist. That it never happened makes no difference to social media, and there’s essentially nothing Goldman can do about to restore his name, reputation and innocence.
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