Teenager who ran into a Texas church half naked covered in blood and claiming she been raped by black men in nearby woods is charged after she admitted it was a hoax

  • Breana Harmon, 19, was covered in blood and wearing only a shirt, bra and underwear when she appeared at a Denison, Texas, church in March
  • She said she had been kidnapped from her car and raped by two black men in the woods near the church while a third man pinned her down
  • But doctors found she had not suffered injuries consistent to her claims, and detectives grew suspicious before she admitted to lying about the allegations
  • She was charged Wednesday with two counts of tampering with physical evidence and and two counts of tampering with a government record 
  • Three of the charges are felonies and carry maximum sentences of 10 years 

A teenager who ran into a church claiming she was kidnapped and gang raped by three black men has been indicted after she admitted it was all a hoax, police said.

Breana Harmon, 19, was covered in blood and wearing only a shirt, bra and underwear when she appeared at a Denison, Texas, church in March claiming she had been raped by two black men while a third held her down, KXII reported.

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But police became suspicious of Harmon's claims and she eventually admitted to lying about the rape.

She was charged Wednesday with tampering with physical evidence and tampering with a government record.

Breana Harmon, 19, was covered in blood and wearing only a shirt, bra and underwear when she appeared at a Denison, Texas, church claiming she had been kidnapped and gang raped
Harmon (above, mugshot) was charged Wednesday with tampering with physical evidence and tampering with a government record after police said she admitted it was all a hoax

A man who said he was Harmon's fiance called the Denison Police Department on March 8, reporting the teen was missing.

The man then told police her car was found in the parking lot of an apartment complex with the driver's door open. Her phone, keys and a single shoe were scattered around the car.

On the same night, Harmon entered a church on the S. Eisenhower Parkway wearing a shirt and underwear with visible cuts or scratches on her body.

She made the false rape claims to witnesses at the church, and later told police officers she had been kidnapped at the apartment complex by three black men wearing ski masks.

Harmon said they took her to a wooded area behind the church, where two of the men raped her while a third suspect pinned her down.

But when she was examined by doctors, they found she did not suffer injuries consistent with her claims.

Pictured, a general view of the church where Harmon turned up on March 8, wearing a shirt and underwear with visible cuts or scratches on her body

Police launched an investigation and detectives soon grew suspicious of Harmon before she admitted to staging both the scene at her car and her own injuries when she walked into the church.

Three of the charges are felonies and carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison in addition to a maximum fine of $10,000, according to Grayson county District Attorney Joe Brown.

One charge is punishable by up to two years in state jail along with a $10,000 fine.

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Police issued a statement in March that called the hoax 'insulting to our community and especially offensive to the African-American community'.

Brown explained the charges against the teen, writing: 'Ms. Harmon was originally arrested for the misdemeanor offense of false report to a peace officer.

'However, the more we have looked at what happened in this case, and considered the harm it caused and certainly could have caused, we believe what she did fits the elements of these higher charges. What she did was very serious, and we believe it was felony conduct.' 

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