Heidi Jones Could Face Jail For False Rape Claim

Heidi Jones Could Face Jail For False Rape Claim

The weather woman for WABC/Channel 7 who falsely claimed she was raped, Heidi Jones, could face jail time for her fabricated story.

Jones, who is usually a very plucky and upbeat presence during her weekend forecast (see the video below), is charged with filing a false police report. If convicted, she faces a year in jail with a chance of a $1,000 fine.

But CBS News Legal Analyst Jack Ford said it's unlikely she would go to jail because she's "a good and decent person" by most accounts.

Jones first reported that a man had accosted her and tried to rape her while jogging in Central Park on Sept. 24 -- but reported this two months after the fact. Police investigated the matter extensively, reviewing surveillance footage from the day of the alleged attack. Then she told the police that man who attacked was harassing her, and he contacted her saying, "I know you went to the police."

When they went back to question Jones again, they found discrepancies in her story.

Once cops confronted her on the inconsistencies of her story, Jones fessed up to having invented the story as a plea for attention. She said she was having some personal problems in her life and thought the story would gain her sympathy.

According Jones' personal website, RunWithHeidi.com, her 'motto' is this: "If you knew you wouldn't fail, what would you try?"

WATCH her regular report:

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