Officials Suspect Woman of Filing False Assault Charge : Police: Common-law husband not charged after discrepancies are found in wife’s story. Authorities say she’s done it before.

A wheelchair-bound, legally blind woman who accused her common-law husband of sexually assaulting her is under investigation for filing false police reports, a prosecutor said Friday.

The 26-year-old woman is also being investigated for cruelty to animals for taping the muzzle of her guide dog and claiming her husband had done it so he could attack her, Deputy Dist. Atty. Sera Boyadjian said.

Prosecutors refused Friday to file charges against West Hills riding instructor Terry Foladare, 41, after a weeklong investigation turned up his accuser’s history of making unfounded police reports, Boyadjian said. Police and prosecutors declined to identify her.

Foladare was arrested Aug. 13 night after the woman identified him as her assailant. He was held in the West Valley jail on $300,000 bail before being released on Tuesday.

“He’s the true victim here,” said Detective Nancy Severns of the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley station. “She has continued to call up and make complaints against the gentleman since his arrest.”

Each time, the detective said, officers have responded and found she was safe and that the allegation was unfounded.

The case began to unfold at about 10 p.m. Aug. 13 when she called police and claimed she had been sexually assaulted. When officers arrived at her Reseda Boulevard apartment, they found the dog in the kitchen, restrained and with its muzzle taped shut.

Both husband and wife are physically challenged, police and prosecutors said. They are estranged and have lived apart for several months.

Police escorted the woman to a hospital, but she refused a portion of the rape examination, authorities said.

After his arrest, Foladare vehemently professed his innocence and gave police a detailed account of his own, the prosecutor said.

“Everything he said checked out,” Boyadjian said. “The information he gave us was corroborated. Meanwhile, her story was falling apart.”

The prosecutor said the subsequent investigation turned up at least three other unfounded police reports made by the alleged victim at three different Valley police divisions.

“Her history shows a serious lack of credibility in filing sexual assault reports,” Boyadjian said. “He is just one of a string of men who seems to be a victim of her allegations of sexual abuse.”

The prosecutor said the charges can be filed as either felonies, which are handled by her office, or misdemeanors, which are prosecuted by the city attorney.

Police Detective Severns said the case occupied all her time and that of several patrol officers this week.

“It’s a shame when someone does this, because sexual assault is such a sensitive issue,” Severns said. “It makes it that much harder for true victims to come forward because they are afraid nobody will believe them.”