Mentally Ill Woman Falsely Accuses Police Officers Of Rape, Domestic Violence

Charges of domestic assault and witness-tampering against a former Bellevue, Washington, police officer and rape charges against another one were dropped after prosecutors discovered the allegations were made by a woman with a history of fabricating such accusations against men.

An investigation by the King County Sheriff’s Office found the allegations against former Bellevue police officer John Kivlin, 48, were made by a 44-year-old Issaquah woman, who is known for seeking out men on Craigslist, getting romantically involved with them and then falsely accusing them of non-consensual encounters.

Kivlin was arrested in July on witness tampering charges when the woman, who was his girlfriend for several months at that point while being married to other people, told authorities he had coerced her into recanting an allegation that he had punched her in the face twice.

“The investigation revealed (the woman) had made up evidence that Kivlin had contacted her in August. A forensic analysis of [her] cellphone revealed she was the one who initiated contact with Kivlin on Craigslist by posing as ‘Cynthia.’ The woman’s claim that Kivlin contacted her in August was not true,” the prosecutor wrote, Seattle Times reported. “As a result of the investigation, Kivlin was released from custody and the new charges against Kivlin were dismissed.”

Authorities also searched Kivlin’s phone which did not corroborate the woman’s claims about the former officer violating a no-contact order against him. Prosecutors concluded that the woman “fabricated evidence and used a sophisticated ruse to deceive Kivlin, law enforcement, prosecutors, and the Court in order to have Kivlin taken into custody and charged with additional crimes.”

Kivlin resigned from the Bellevue Police Department after being charged.

While looking into the domestic violence allegations brought on by the alleged victim, investigators also came across text messages sent by the woman that suggest she was raped by another Bellevue police officer.

After being interrogated about it by detectives in May, the woman revealed that she had consensual sex with the second police officer back in 2015, whom she met on Craigslist. However, during a second meeting, she said she passed out from too much drinking and the officer raped her while she was unconscious. When the King County Sheriff’s Office reached out to the second officer, he said the woman had posted an ad on Craigslist “asking for someone to help make her fantasy of being raped come true.”

The investigation further revealed that the woman was also behind a criminal investigation being launched against Bellevue Police Chief Steve Mylett, who was placed on administrative leave since August. Although details of the allegations against him were not made public, according to detectives, initial reports of the investigation did not reveal any evidence to corroborate the woman’s accusations against the chief.

Sgt. Ryan Abbott of the King County Sheriff’s Office said the woman will not be charged with a crime due to her poor mental health.

“Although some may say that justice was served in this process, my client sure doesn’t see it that way,” said Jeffrey Cohen, the attorney for Kivlin. “She has destroyed lives and reputations and now he’s got to try to put his life back together.”