I think as a society we aim to believe proclaimed victims, but sometimes, there is more to the story than meets the eye. False sexual assault accusations aren’t very common. According to EVAWI, estimates for the percentage of false reports converge around 2% to 8% and can only be labeled as false after thorough investigation. Just for some perspective, however, past data indicates that an estimated 734,630 people were raped or threatened with rape in the US in 2018 alone. Still, false accusations can and do occur, and a case in upstate New York is bringing this debate to life.
According to Syracuse.com, 23-year-old DoorDash driver Olivia Henderson arrived at a home in Oswego, New York, to drop off a late-night order. She claims she arrived at 11:15 p.m. to an open door that had a clear view of a man lying on his couch with no underwear on. Henderson recorded the incident and posted it on TikTok.
She insinuated the man intentionally exposed himself to her by pretending to sleep, allegedly after learning he had a female driver, and “lured her” into his home. She fervently labeled his actions as sexual assault and has since made several follow-up videos about the incident.
Her video went extremely viral, and online discourse peaked and valleyed over what actually happened. Things took a turn, however, when the dasher was arrested — after calling the cops herself, according to the New York Post. After an investigation, police claimed they procured Ring camera footage that shows Henderson let herself in the man’s home.
Her own video “indicates that the male was incapacitated and unconscious on his couch due to alcohol consumption,” police shared in a statement. “The DoorDash driver subsequently posted the video to social media, where it drew significant attention,” police added, noting that “the DoorDash driver had made claims of being sexually assaulted.”
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Because of this evidence, police ended up arresting Henderson and hitting her with two felony charges: one count of unlawful surveillance in the second degree and one count of dissemination of an unlawful surveillance image in the first degree, per the Post.
DoorDash had originally suspended the customer’s account but later deactivated the Dasher’s account after the videos she posted were made public.
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“Posting a video of a customer in their home, and disclosing their personal details publicly, is a clear violation of our policies,” the company shared in a statement after she was first arrested. “That is the sole reason that this Dasher’s account was deactivated, along with the customer’s, while we investigated,” it reads.
Henderson was released and is due back in court December 4. She faces years in prison if convicted. The customer has also been in contact with authorities. Henderson, however, is maintaining her innocence and victimhood.
She states that she did not open the customer’s door and has “irrefutable” proof she did not open the door but cannot share it due to its “importance.”
