London: Father Accused of Gang Raping Daughter with Snake and Gerbil

A man from London has been found not guilty of all rape charges made against him by his daughter who claimed in court that she was gang-raped by a group of men who used a snake and a gerbil during the attack.

The father, 45, was accused of sexually abusing his daughter from the age of 10. She also accused a family friend and her father of leading a gang rape while she was drugged and bound, reported the Jewish Chronicle.

Both men, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, were found not guilty of all charges after five minutes of deliberation by the jury.

The lawyer for the father, Jonathan Goldberg, said the daughter, who is now a young woman, was a "pathological liar". He compared the rape accusations to the Salem Witch Trials.

"She is a feisty, confident young lady, who never once shed a tear, never once backed down," he told the court. He added that she enjoyed the "battle of wits" and had "suckered" her psychologist, a US rabbi and his wife.

David Sonn, the solicitor for both men, said they were acquitted in record time because of three pieces of key evidence.

The first was that a gynaecological exam did not show any signs of trauma - the girl had said she was raped with a spiked ball, a gerbil, a snake and that her attackers had cut her genitals.

Finally over

On the dates she was allegedly attacked, her mobile phone records showed she had used her phone almost continuously and that the locations both men and the girl had used their phones did not correlate with the place where she said she had been attacked.

The girl also claimed to have suffered electric shocks and was told she would be sold as a sex slave. The court also heard that she had logged on to a website called "Brutally raped" a number of times.

"You've got all your ideas against your daddy from the internet," Goldberg told her.

The co-accused said after the trial: "That my co-defendant and I were hugged by members of the jury when we left court after the verdict says all you need to know about what the jury thought of the incredible allegations we faced."

Anthony Metzer, his lawyer, added: "The allegations against my client, a religious family man of exemplary character, were extraordinary and shocking and the jury must have found them to be fanciful and without foundation."

The father had already been found guilty of sexually assaulting his two stepdaughters in a previous trial. He is awaiting sentencing.

Goldberg maintained that both cases were made up by the alleged victim's mothers and their friends.