Connecticut student ‘faked anti-gay harassment’
A lesbian student at Central Connecticut State University is facing police charges of faking claims of anti-gay harassment.
Police discovered that Alexandra Pennell, 19, had been sending herself homophobic notes to get attention and sympathy from other students.
Pennell is pleading not guilty to charges including falsely reporting an incident, fabricating evidence and making a false statement, the Hartford Courant reports.
She claimed abusive and homophobic notes had been slipped under her dormitory door and received an outpouring of support on campus.
Police put CCTV cameras outside her door in an effort to catch the perpetrator but began to suspect Pennell herself after the cameras were twice disabled.
After hiding a camera in a hall closet without her knowledge, police officers caught Pennell sliding one of the notes under her own door.
She then confessed that she had written the notes to herself to get more attention from her roommate Siobhan Dooley.
Ms Dooley, who is not facing any charges, told police that Pennell had written her a letter confessing to sending herself the notes because she feared she was losing her friends.
Pennell has been barred from attending any school in the Connecticut state university system for five years.
