Whether Veronika Rodriguez made a false rape report could come down to a jury’s interpretation of 55 minutes of audio prosecutors say she secretly recorded on her phone while she and the man she says assaulted her were on a date.
Rodriguez, a new Pennsylvania Air National Guard recruit, and Guard Major Fahad Pervez, a New York physician, met at a Guard dental clinic on Jan. 7, 2023. The next evening, after a day of exchanging flirtatious text messages, they met near Fort Indiantown Gap and drove in Pervez’s Jeep to Frog’s Hollow Tavern, where they had dinner.
While they dining there, Rodriguez began secretly recording Pervez on her phone. She continued recording as they left, drove to the Snitz Creek Brewery near Fort Indiantown Gap, then to a nearby convenience store, and finally to the base’s secluded Keystone Conference Center, where they had sex in the back of the Jeep. They were interrupted by FTIG police, who spotted headlights in the off-limits parking lot.
Three days later, Rodriguez told a Guard superior and FTIG police that Pervez had sexually assaulted her. However, texts and recordings recovered, with her permission, from her phone led investigators to conclude that she and Pervez had consensual sex.
Rodriguez was charged with false reports to law enforcement authorities, a misdemeanor, and two felony counts of violating Pennsylvania’s wiretap act for recording her encounter with Pervez.
No charges have been filed against Pervez.
Read More: Trial starts for National Guardswoman accused of filing false sex assault report
Rodriguez’s trial started Monday. On Tuesday morning, with Pervez on the witness stand, prosecutors played 55 minutes of audio recovered from Rodriguez’s phone, spanning dinner at Frog’s Hollow through sex in the Jeep. Throughout the recording, Rodriguez and Pervez could be heard laughing and engaging in friendly small talk, which was at times sexually suggestive.
Eventually, they can be heard loudly engaging in what sounds like sexual intercourse, before being interrupted by the police. The recording does not contain any obvious indication that Rodriguez was alarmed or upset.
On cross examination, defense attorney Ian Ehrgood challenged Pervez’s assertion that the recording shows a consensual encounter, referring to specific portions of the audio where Rodriguez can be heard loudly saying “ouch!” and “no!” Ehrgood also suggested that Pervez attempted to exert control over Rodriguez by taking her glasses and moving her phone and keys away from her, all of which Pervez denied.
After Pervez finished testifying, Senior Deputy District Attorney Amy Muller called several law enforcement witnesses who described the investigation into Rodriguez’s allegations that she was assaulted and their conclusion that she was lying based on post-sex texts that did not mention an assault or non-consensual activity.
Additionally, they said some of her texts suggested she feared that “fraternizing” with a superior officer such as Pervez would jeopardize her career with the Guard, giving her a motive to lie.
The trial in the courtroom of Judge Charles Jones is expected to continue through Friday.
Editor’s note: This article was updated to clarify that law enforcement witnesses, not National Guard witnesses, described the investigation into Rodriguez’s allegations. National Guard witnesses described military fraternization rules.
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