Guilty Plea From Woman Who Falsely Accused Lower Merion Cop of Stalking Her
By Brad Segall
LOWER MERION, Pa. (CBS) -- A Montgomery County, Pa. woman has admitted in court that she lied to a county grand jury more than two years ago about being sexually assaulted and stalked by a Lower Merion police officer.
Gabrielle Drexler today pleaded guilty to a felony perjury charge related to her testimony before the grand jury concerning the incidents. The 28-year-old Bryn Mawr woman had gone public with the accusations at a township commissioners meeting in 2011, telling the board that an officer she had a relationship with had indecently assaulted her (see related story).
The grand jury called her a "woman scorned" in the wake of the affair when she found out the cop was married.
Now she faces up to seven years behind bars, but prosecutor John Gradel declined comment on whether he will seek jail time.
"Yeah, I can't really comment on that because it's yet to happen, and I'm gonna make my comments in open court," he told KYW Newsradio this morning.
The grand jury found that she altered e-mails to make it look like she had been assaulted. The officer was disciplined and lost his seniority but is now back on patrol.
