It all started on July 22, when Charlie Rogers, a 33-year-old woman from Lincoln, Nebraska, who is openly gay, reported a horrific home invasion to the local authorities. The community immediately rallied behind Rogers as hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil in the state capitol.
Yet, after hearing Rogers' story of how three men broke into her house, bound her and carved anti-gay slurs into her skin, police were skeptical. Authorities "spent an exorbitant amount of time and personnel resources investigating" the case, Lincoln Police Chief Jim Peschong said, but remained unconvinced that the incident happened as Roger alleged. After all, they had evidence to the contrary.
Rogers was arrested and charged with making a false report. She was released on personal recognizance bond and plead not guilty on Sept. 27.
Currently awaiting trial, Rogers posted a video on Youtube this week to again tell her side of the story and profess her innocence.
"It isn't my fault that this was a complicated case," Rogers says in the video. "I want people to know that there's always two sides to a story."
Rogers recounts her time at the hospital following the alleged crime and the days to come when police and insurance investigators conducted a second investigation of the scene.
"People were in and out. Then they conducted a second investigation of my house. During that time, those two days, I'm sure evidence was lost. I'm sure things were trampled on," she says.
While Rogers admits that she can't remember everything from that night -- something she attributes to her earlier diagnosis of PTSD, anxiety and depression -- she assures viewers that she "did not do this."
"I'm going to jail for something I didn't do, for a crime committed against me, and I'm okay with that," Rogers says. "But I'm not going to let it happen to anybody else."
Listen to Rogers' account of the alleged anti-gay hate crime and the subsequent investigation in the video above.