Judge orders polygraphs from sex-assault victims

CLEVELAND (AP) — A judge ordered four teenage sex-assault victims to take polygraph tests — after she convicted the boys accused in the cases.

The girls and their parents say the order by Judge Alison Floyd of Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court questions the victims’ honesty. None of the girls complied.

The judge also ordered the teenage boys accused of rape and other sex crimes in the cases to undergo polygraph tests as part of an assessment before sentencing. Judge Floyd found them delinquent, the juvenile court equivalent of guilty.

The Plain Dealer newspaper said the judge’s intent is unclear and she hadn’t responded to requests for comment. A message was left today at her office by The Associated Press.

“The situation made no sense to us,” the mother of a 16-year-old victim told the newspaper in a message relayed through the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center.

The mother said her daughter’s attacker told people that the polygraph requirement showed the judge didn’t believe the girl’s accusations.

Prosecutor Bill Mason’s office has filed briefs in two of the cases, asking the judge to stop ordering rape victims to submit to polygraph tests. The judge does not have authority over victims, according to the motion filed by assistant Prosecutor Nicole Ellis.

Megan O’Bryan, president and CEO of the Rape Crisis Center, said the center — which is assisting three of the victims — does not condone the polygraph tests for sexual-assault victims.