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UNH student has extensive history of false reports
Helen Hocknell
Issue date: 11/14/06 Section: News
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A UNH student arrested Oct. 27 on charges of falsely reporting to be the victim of a hate crime has a history of making similar false claims at two other colleges, according to court documents.
Experts say this kind of false report is very rare, but that it could have far-reaching effects on the public's attitude towards hate crimes and their victims.
Breanne Coventry Snell, 24, of Midlothian, Va., told police she was assaulted on Oct. 3 near the Whittemore Center by two white males as she made her way home from a Hillel meeting, according to her arrest affidavit from the Durham District Court. She identified one of her attackers as a freshman football player she had met in the dining hall and sent a friend request to on facebook.com, picking his picture out of a lineup.
After investigating various inconsistencies in her story, interviewing Snell's roommates, and confirming that the football player she identified was in a team practice at the time of the alleged attack, police concluded that the incident never happened. Snell was arrested on Oct. 27 on two counts of false reports to law enforcement and one count of unsworn falsification. Both are Class A misdemeanors.
The five-page affidavit reveals a long history of false reports made by Snell dating back to the 1999-2000 school year, when she was a student at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), and last year when she attended the University of Maine. While at VCU, Snell claimed to be the victim of three crimes on campus, all of which were proven false. She reported to have been hit in the head with a brick by an unknown male, been mugged on campus, and been the victim of violent rape by an unknown male assailant. It is unclear why she was never charged with making false reports. She was also arrested on felony arson charges for burning down a local laundromat, but plead to a misdemeanor.
UNH depends on an "honor system" requiring prospective students to disclose past conduct or criminal issues on the school application, according to Mark Rubinstein, vice president for Student & Academic Services.
Experts say this kind of false report is very rare, but that it could have far-reaching effects on the public's attitude towards hate crimes and their victims.
Breanne Coventry Snell, 24, of Midlothian, Va., told police she was assaulted on Oct. 3 near the Whittemore Center by two white males as she made her way home from a Hillel meeting, according to her arrest affidavit from the Durham District Court. She identified one of her attackers as a freshman football player she had met in the dining hall and sent a friend request to on facebook.com, picking his picture out of a lineup.
After investigating various inconsistencies in her story, interviewing Snell's roommates, and confirming that the football player she identified was in a team practice at the time of the alleged attack, police concluded that the incident never happened. Snell was arrested on Oct. 27 on two counts of false reports to law enforcement and one count of unsworn falsification. Both are Class A misdemeanors.
The five-page affidavit reveals a long history of false reports made by Snell dating back to the 1999-2000 school year, when she was a student at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), and last year when she attended the University of Maine. While at VCU, Snell claimed to be the victim of three crimes on campus, all of which were proven false. She reported to have been hit in the head with a brick by an unknown male, been mugged on campus, and been the victim of violent rape by an unknown male assailant. It is unclear why she was never charged with making false reports. She was also arrested on felony arson charges for burning down a local laundromat, but plead to a misdemeanor.
UNH depends on an "honor system" requiring prospective students to disclose past conduct or criminal issues on the school application, according to Mark Rubinstein, vice president for Student & Academic Services.
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