Woman sentenced after falsely accusing 2 men of rape

A Lexington, Mich. woman was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for falsely accusing two men of rape. Sara Ylen, 38, claimed she was sexually assaulted by two men in her Lexington, Mich., home in September 2012. Police noted she sustained heavy bruising on her face and lacerations to the arms and legs, but the bruises were wiped off with gauze by a doctor and the wounds were proven to be self-inflicted. She was charged with falsely reporting a rape and tampering with evidence, and was convicted in St. Clair County Court in December. The two men accused of the crime, Terry Stone and Kevelin Patton, gave statements in court at the sentencing Friday indicating they have suffered damage to their reputations because of Ylen's accusations and the publicity of the case, the (Port Huron, Mich.) Tomes Herald reported. Ylen said in 2002 she was sexually assaulted by James Grissom in a Fort Gratiot, Mich., parking lot. He was convicted in 2003 and has served 10 years of a 15-to-35 year term, but was granted a new trial in 2012 after Ylen's other claims were proven unfounded. His case is likely to be dismissed, St. Clair County Prosecutor Mike Wendlind said. Grissom attended the court room Friday to hear Ylen's sentencing. In a separate case Monday, Ylen pleaded no contest to charges of healthcare fraud in Sanilac County. She received over $100,000 in hospice care and $10,000 in a church fundraiser after she falsely claimed she contracted cancer from a sexually transmitted disease she obtained during the alleged attack by Grissom, the newspaper said.