Innocent man sent to jail for rape by his own fiancé | 60 Minutes Australia

Dan Jones is an honest, hard-working guy, the product of an equally decent family. Eight years ago he met the woman he thought he would spend the rest of his life with. Her name is Sarah Jane Parkinson. Together, she and Dan planned her wedding and she began building a house, but just when life was looking so good, Parkinson began making up vile stories about her

fianc

é. She went to the police accusing Dan of despicable domestic violence and

rape

. He strenuously denied the allegations, but to no avail. It would take him six long years and it would cost him.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars before the truth was finally revealed that the woman Dan believed he loved him was not a victim but a pathological liar. Dan Jones lived every man's nightmare, first accused of

rape

by the woman he claimed to love him. Venus,

innocent

and sweet girl to this premeditated monster, Sarah Jane Parkinson had a big smile and a girlish voice when Daniel attacked me, which hid an evil heart, a good team when her cunning web of lies brought down her

fianc

é, she She just became like a complete stranger. against their parents, you went all out, yes, this was a burning tent, your enemy knows who they are, marceline lurking and take them down, but the gullible police believed parkinson's despicable claims, imprisoning someone is supposed to It is the last resort of the law.

Dan Jones was thrown out. in June, yes, the last words to me on that phone call, well, I love you, son, and I think here's the voice breaking, the Jones family destroyed my only dream in life, Liz was to have nice laughs with my family around me, that's all I ever wanted. I don't think it was too much to ask with all hope lost, it took a good cop to finally unmask this serial liar and as criminals how do you classify her? She would be in the worst. It all started in 2011, when Dan Jones. Then, aged 25, he met 20-year-old Sarah Jane Parkinson, he was an AFP officer working as a dog handler and she was an airline employee.

They fell in love and within months were planning their wedding and building a house. She was very feminine and pretty.

innocent

and very a little old fashioned, plus she always, you know, dressed very well, she wore nice dresses and my dresses and what kind of things, she was impeccable, you know, her dress, her appearance, her manners, Everything was perfect. even the washing machine or something, but there is nothing more solid than the Jones family. Michelle, a librarian, and Ian, a former Navy engineer, had been married for 30 years and wanted the same for their son. The family welcomed Parkinson into their hearts and home, but after a year they began to doubt the girl of Dan's dreams.

She had no friends and her many stories about a turbulent past worried them. She was raped by one of her, apparently by one of her friends. country before the charges were filed and yes, apparently there have been a few other boyfriends who have been, if you see if she has had a bad streak of boyfriends, any suspicion was overcome by sympathy and Dan moved on with his plans together, but everything changed in 2012, when Sarah Jane Parkinson started a new job at Queanbeyan Police Station as an administrative assistant. She began dating her co-workers and it was there that she met her new lover, a New South Wales police officer.

Parkinson soon began weaving an intricate web of lies claiming she was a victim of domestic violence when Parkinson came to work with bruises, police said she told them Dan was abusing her, what she didn't mention was that she suffered from a heart condition that It caused her dizziness and tunnel vision, all of which contributed to a series of domestic accidents and injuries, she was always clumsy and we always wanted to make a joke, so every time she fell, got hurt or bumped into something, you know she she laughed and you It would be typical Sarah, that's exactly what she did, but what she was doing was getting a bruise or a mark and then she can spin a story that you had no idea that behind the scenes you were portrayed as a violent man.

No idea at all The first position found out that the police were investigating him They were almost two years into their relationship when Sarah Jane Parkinson's boss, Inspector Anthony Hill, called him to a Quinby police station for what he called a chat. Dan decided to take his father, Ian, with him, you go in and find out, yes, what they want to put against me for abusing Sarah and your answers, since I haven't done anything, you know like fuse, I'm sitting there, gun for what the good Inspector Hill said he had done. five people I'd be willing to endure a witness stand against me if I had to fight five witnesses apparently five witnesses for Benson never happened You said my fiancée should be able to tell you that's not true, yeah, and she? she says she doesn't want to talk to you about it she doesn't want to talk to you about it yes Daniel came back very agitated Ian was quite angry and what were you thinking about sir Ajay and Parkinson at this point it's time to go? suspect we would write another house rat in the house, yes you go home and live with Sara Joan Parkinson, yes, although you have this, yes, saying that you are a monster, you are a violent man and she your victim, yes, Parkinson blame to her overprotective police colleagues over the AVO and Dan believes her and she is unequivocal about Dan's innocence when Ian Jones, the decent father, asks his future daughter-in-law if there is any truth to the accusations the police are making.

In fact, I asked. she straight about it alone and she no, there's nothing Daniels never hurt me I can't imagine Eva loved me I love him but it just sounded Hollow she looked you in the eyes and said this yes, she's going to be a consummate Liar Dan and Parkinson continued their lives together. He knows he's innocent, but he's starting to have other worries. You suspect that she might be cheating on you. Yes, you know some of the cell phone messages and calls late at night. You face Sara Jane. If that? Did you say I said I'm sorry, you're negotiating with me what she said and her body language Sara, you must have felt crushed she was crushed, but she was angrier at that moment she was just furious, you know, I just built? a house you know she moved in with me everything was going well you knew I had a good career I had you know the car of my dreams that I always wanted I knew everything was going well and in that moment everything went towards the relationship ends in November 2013, in question Within days, Sarah Jane Parkinson appears on camera at Gungahlin Police Station to make further claims about Dan.

This time they are so extreme that to believe them is to believe that Dan is a monster. So many accusations, yes, so many horrible stories about you, yes. there are 32 in total you have no chance to defend yourself you're just going to go it didn't happen it didn't happen 32 times and I some of the charges that give you renown as if they were disgusting I know worse He makes accusations, I can be, you know, accused or is it yes, it's dirty. Dan had apparently violated Sarah Jane's pockets and, according to her, she had at least stated that he had hit her over the head with a piece of wood and a tire iron. piss him off yeah he made her stand outside in the rain when he got home later he didn't let her in you must be thinking what is this this was just the charges he was looking to breathe through that I mean they are horrible accusations some of the worst that I have, you know, in the domestic violence that you would see and that makes me furious because you have gone from a sweet, innocent little girl with no sense to this premeditated monster that is able to make all these accusations against you without caring. the world and thinks she can get away with it and you sit there and say who is this person, yeah, who is this person, yeah, there were just two of them, they just turned around, this is like a complete stranger on Christmas Eve. 2013, Dan Jones, the world is falling apart, he was working. here at the Alexander McConaughey Correctional Center as a prison officer when he goes home, he is arrested in front of his colleagues and charged with 32 counts of domestic violence, including rape.

I couldn't believe it, but Sarah-Jane Parkinson's work wasn't done yet. her next target was next dance friend Ian Jones we're having the fun of our lives a family under siege he'll end up in

jail

for identities okay you went to school yes this was available but it's enough to stop her packing she wished you had came to her house, you banged her head against the retaining wall, you kicked her and you raped her, apparently so that's what's next on 60 Minutes, it's January 2014 and Dan Jones is facing 32 counts of domestic violence, including rape, filed against him by his ex-fiancée.

Sarah Jane Parkinson dan has lost almost all of her home her job and her reputation she is virtually under house arrest with her parents while Parkinson lives at home her bail conditions are so strict a violation and she will also lose her freedom she just lost completely helpless confused , everything is coming into your head like it was me against the entire IFP, it was practically me against anyone in a blue uniform at that moment, so overwhelmed by what was happening, the Jones family realized that they were under siege and that It wasn't like that. They only had to worry about Sarah Jane Parkinson, it seemed like the police believed every word she said so I gathered the family together and said we are in the fight of our lives, we are fighting the New South Wales Police Services and the AFP that we are incurring.

Huge legal costs and consequences for Daniel, if this goes as it seems, he will end up in

jail

for 18 to 20 years. I remember saying that people were going to get angry at each other and we would attack each other. another, we are going to be tired, it is going to cost a lot of money, but we have to do this because it is wrong. Did you change mentally? So yeah, okay, what I followed well, I'll use the term on a war footing, no, I did everything. It was about achieving my goal, which was to prove that Daniel was innocent and have Sara Jane and the place here, that was your focus, yes, you, you, you went to this wall, yes, this was a battle, that's how I treated her, it was just one way to do it.

It's Dana Phi, your enemy knows who they are Marshall and they prowl around infinisynth if there was a battle, the front line was here, the Australian federal police station at Gungahlin, it's here that Sarah Jane Parkinson found a willing ear, particularly Sgt. AFP interim Scott Corcoran, he was the first to investigate the allegations against Dan Corcoran and has since left the police force. This was not a mistake. Erin. Oops! It was a carefully orchestrated, prolonged and ruthless attempt to catch Daniel. If Ian's anger is shown, it's for good reason. The police are here again. Again with Sarah Jane Parkinson.

When she suddenly made scandalous accusations against him a month after Dan's arrest, Ian also found himself sleeping with a court order, a breach of that order and he could also be

sent

to jail, something he believed Parkinson was looking for, We had an enemy and I did. means an enemy, we were literally under siege looking at the cameras that are still here in response, the Jones family went into defense mode installing cameras both inside and outside their home to protect against any false accusations of Parkinson's. Fixed camera here at the front door Michelle and Ann began obsessively collecting evidence of their every move, keeping receipts and ensuring CCTV cameras could identify them, and keeping detailed diaries.

Amy was at work, that was my daughter-in-law. I stayed until 10:00 p.m. m. for home and then home at 10:37 p.m. It's pretty accurate, isn't it? And while the Jones family lived under siege, Sarah Jane Parkinson set up her new life with her police lover, moving into the house Dan had built, you were wiped out and another one came in, yeah, and I was paying. for a mortgage for him and his three children who live in my house, they moved into your house and life went on, yes, new, yes, they had everything I had worked for and I had nothing before I knew what was happening , we had four plainclothes detectives.

Parkinson's next step was incomprehensible. On March 21, 2014, a group of police officers arrived at the Jones house to arrest Dan and as soon as I turned to enter the house to take my phone so I could call the lawyers, they just jumped over the door and slammed Daniel against the wall here, so there were four men on top of Daniel doing the rest and I had no idea what was going on and they didn't They didn't tell me they were arresting me, they didn't tell me They said why is she screaming, yours are screaming, I'm trying to get back in the house and lock it, don't let them in, I thought, here we go, today is the day, this is where it starts this is where it's really hard dan was accused of yet another sexual assault on Sarah Jane Parkinson, a story to which he would add increasingly shocking details over the following week.

Parkinson's final account was of a violent and horrific rape that she had experienced. her house smashed her head into a retaining wall, you jumped on top of her, you forced herto open a package of condoms, he kicked her and you raped her, apparently that's a pretty big accusation and completely false, what no one realized was that this photo of Dan holding his nephew Hunter was proof that there couldn't have been made. It was taken on the day of his arrest by his sister-in-law. Crucially stamped with the date, time and location, it showed that Dan could not have been anywhere. close to Parkinson at the time she claimed he had raped her, but Dan faced court fighting for her freedom.

I remember seeing him handcuffed and looking over her shoulder at us and it became a habit for me to go, her shoulders back, chin up. Was this where Dan's life, as he knew it, came to an end? So serious was the rape allegation that Dan, a former prison officer, was refused bail and

sent

to Australia's toughest prison. objective Byrnes Supermax probably the worst day of their lives than taking someone's freedom is supposed to be the last act Daniel got banned so quickly he wasn't It's funny and if anyone found out who he was while he was there he was dead so I got a phone call.

I talked to dad and he said, "You know well through this and everything," and yeah, he's very much worth the last words to me on that phone call. I love you son and I think his voice breaks here, you know he is the strongest guy I know, if he was struggling to get over it then how was I expected to do the same? That phone call broke me, you know, mm-hmm, I'm coming. an innocent man locked up I thought what are we going to do another victim she made me feel like always I'm guilty of everything Sarah Jane Parkinson said her shopping history exposed to people at school she thought for ten years my father was a rapist but it's his deception is about to unravel and what the evidence showed us didn't happen that's next on 60 Minutes Dan Jones is locked up, the former prison officer, in a jail that houses the worst of the worst Goulburn Supermax outside the prison that his family is desperately trying to free him and undo the damage caused by the woman who once claimed to love him Sarah Jane Parkinson but this was not the first time Parkinson accused an innocent man of rape, she made me feel like I always am guilty of everything he had said everything.

Ten years ago, Parkinson accused Keith Lewis of raping her and threatening to kill her and her family. They were extraordinary accusations because at the time Parkinson's best friend was Keith Lewis' daughter Sarah, this is a girl I trusted with my life and why would I lie, but my dad wouldn't do that, but why would anyone lie? But people at school fought for 10 years because my dad was a rapist. I felt like my heart had been ripped out and I was looking at people thinking: what are they judging me? That is what I think. We were and I just remember walking into the bedroom and crying my eyes out just thinking about this, what am I doing here?

But Parkinson's horrible claims didn't end there. She also accused Keith of sexually assaulting his own daughters, Sarah and Rebecca, and abusing others. the girls at her school accuse the Asians which were all lies but devastating to her family. Dad hugged me and he was crying and he is my dad to me. I don't think I've seen him cry very often in my life and my dad told me. He hugged me and cried and said I didn't touch her. Me and he was crying and I was just to myself, that was the most heartbreaking thing you've ever seen or heard from your father, the strong, stoic Navy person you know. that I have always admired to hold you crying your eyes out saying that I didn't touch her, I promise you and you found yourself, you said even telling your wife, do you believe me, how shocking to have these conversations, yes, why would I? be having that conversation like why should I have that conversation with my wife?

I'm defending myself from something I haven't done. The police agreed. Keith Lewis did not have a case to answer and was never charged with Parkinson's allegations, but Keith's family, his wife Robyn and his daughters are still suffering. I feel this helplessness that I just don't understand. I want to scream at him and ask him why why would you do this to us? but I can't, it's just that I feel. I complain when I see someone who could do something so horrible to such a good person. I hate what this has become and reading everything I have concerns about physical and mental health, it's the same question Dan Jones asks in his daily letters from prison. he writes about his confusion, frustration and despair.

I'm afraid. I shouldn't have it because I haven't done anything at all, but there is a small percentage in me that tells me I am. It's worrying to know that I'm not even safe. at my house when I'm asleep and it didn't seem like good news. Dan's parents were now faced with telling their son that his time in jail while awaiting trial could be many more months and he said it and not a word, not a word, just tears, tears streaming down his face. and I thought, I thought, what are we going to do? You could see he was devastated, yeah, well that was one terrible date after another that he might have to stay on.

This whole jail thing was scary and distressing you had to do things like make his will for him organize a funeral if he needed it I said today not a day and I said I don't have to ask you about the will and because we knew it was dangerous for him to be there As the Jones family was falling apart, they had no idea that this woman, Detective Sergeant Lisa Alexander, was about to change everything, so you came in believing that Dan Jones is a rapist, that's right, and Sarah Jane Parkinson is a victim, that's true, yes, I thought, what a family we have.

I have some here in jail for rape and the rest are chasing this poor victim when Sarah Jane Parkinson escalated her complaints of harassment by the Jones family the case was handed over to the AFP Criminal Division and Detective Alexander did not pass long before Parkinson's long suffering victim would be seen as a suspect, everyone before you had believed her, an entire police force had backed her up, it's fair to say she didn't expect them to disbelieve her, am I right, yes you are , Yes, I would. They have believed me and I believed them until the evidence started to show something different, how important Lisa Alexander was, she is a blessing, that is a blessing, very professional, very calm to carry herself, it was completely different with us, Lisa Alexander, she turned the tide, yes, she saved Daniel, finally, dad.

Who would probably still be inside, but darling, when she showed up, it was very clear that things were different. Can you tell me in your own words what your understanding of the precautions is? Then I can choose if and when I say or do something. I say yes, for the first time Sarah-Jane Parkinson's allegations were being scrutinized and Parkinson didn't like that she said it in text messages to her police confidant, Acting Sergeant Scott Corcoran, who was now no longer around. charge of the case in one she wrote. a Corcoran Lisa showed up at my work on Sunday and caused a bit of a scene.

She is horrible and I don't want to talk to her again. If Parkinson was nervous, it was for good reason. Lisa Alexander was scrupulous in her investigations. Someone had reported. all these false crimes and I blamed Daniel for all of them and as far as I was concerned and what the evidence showed was that he was not responsible for any of it, it didn't happen, she said Daniel didn't do this, she said I I have a lot of experience, she said he didn't do this and we said it again, yeah, well it was like this was a trick, but it wasn't a trick.

Lisa Alexander's case against Sarah Jane Parkinson was so compelling that the Department of Public Prosecutions in the ACT requested an emergency bail hearing. Dan, his legs so relentlessly chased into jail, was now someone they desperately wanted out and after four and a half long months, Dan was released even now because Ian and Michelle came back to remember that moment is too much to come as a good police were horrified exposed sarah-jane Parkinson's lungs there is a person who is innocent but it is very little there is Brandis irreparable too late for the Jones family that is the next 60

minutes

that was Daniel I know it was Dan.

I recognized it at the end of July 2014. Sarah Jane Parkinson is now in the dock being questioned by the police officer who would finally bring her down. Detective Sergeant Lisa Alexander. Here you are saying you drove past her house, it doesn't make any sense. This is the actual audio of the police interview where Parkinson is being called to account for the series of accusations he has made against the Jones family. We inform you, Sarah, that you reported the theft, falsely accusing them of the offense, her accusations that will eventually be revealed. being a liar I think it was pure desperation I can't Spain Daniel when reviewing the evidence there is a series of photos on Sara's phone that I saw and Sarah was very seemed to be very happy and during those dates Stan was in jail, so it seemed very It is difficult for one person to be so happy while another is in jail.

Detective Sergeant Lisa Alexander had only been on the case for a few weeks. Police had spent the previous two years believing Sarah Jane Parkinson's rape and rape allegations. domestic abuse that had put Dan Jones behind bars now Parkinson was claiming a pattern of persistent threats of harassment and robbery involving Dan's parents, Ian and Michelle, and his brother Andrew. Do you think the Jones family would have survived this if justice had not ultimately prevailed? she was already breaking down Parkinson made many accusations including that she was run off the road and attacked by a man wielding a knife this was a knife you were actually able to trace yes the steak knife Parkinson claimed was used in the attack was hers , we did a search warrant and the set of six knives was just five knives.

Then we compared those knives and that was one of the six SAT police officers who were talking earlier. I took a look at the power box of that weapon. Now Parkinson also implicated the Jones family in multiple raids on her home, police operations Jane speaking to Sarah Pattinson and last week at my house in Persian, and one of the things they took was my iPad, then she claimed that her iPad had been stolen and that the software indicated that it was in the Jones house I am something continuous at the moment I am giving evidence in a trial against my partner and his family has been harassing me and that has not been divided into eight times she was saying that I the iPad was stolen and I know where it is it's true it's at the Jones house hmm yes but she had a GPS tracker in her car that's right yes it's almost disturbing to see a lie unmasked as easily as this GPS track from the Parkinson's car, what did that show show that someone was driving? from Sarah's house to the Jones' house, which was Sarah Jane Parkinson planting the iPad outside the Jones family, yes it was the house so the lies melted away, yes the lies kept coming this time, Parkinson claimed that someone had broken into his car at work and again. probably the Jones family, she said, but CCTV footage showed Parkinson briefly leaving work and opening her own car to establish the story of a robbery.

Reviewing those images showed that no one had broken into Sara's car that day. We watched all the Footage and at the end of watching it it was clear to me: Sara had lied, so I thought that if she had lied to me maybe she had lied to the previous investigators, what do you feel as a police officer when you have that thought? , Oh God? bad Ren called I was horrified that it could be the case, what Lisa Alexander proved was that Sarah Jane Parkinson was nothing more than a serial liar Daniel was my problem then, so she was lying to me, she has lied to me now in four times, probably an innocent person in jail comes my only treatment lifeless wizard have a good home with my family around me that's all I ever wanted I didn't think it was too much to ask the cost of innocence Sir John Parkinson will probably see this hmm anything you want to say about snakes on 60

minutes

for Dan Jones and his parents in Michelle there is no joy with all the charges against Dan dropped the nightmare that Sarah Jane Parkinson has inflicted on them now the years of fighting to prove the Dan's innocence has literally destroyed them, can you put into words what these last six years have been like?

They have exacted a horrendous price. Daniels lost her career, her reputation, her livelihood, his house. Michelle and I spent enormous amounts of money which resulted in a divorce contributed significantly after over 30 years of marriage, it is broken, any wife we ​​have in the legal system of the police, the judiciary, the TPP, it destroyed her family , that ruined us, is it irreparable? I guess I'll be excited. Who is Sarah Jane Parkinson? So I think she is a cancerous, vindictive, lying human who shouldn't be around other people. I was a woman who could go bang bang, I have a question, bang, I have an answer, you know, she was a professional.

She is not aprofessional positional position, although it no longer exists. You know, my marriage is over. I am like my family. You know, everything I ever wanted in life. My only dream in life. Liz was having a nice house with my family around me. That's all I've ever done. wanted I didn't think it was too much to ask no it's I didn't think it was too much to ask for five years Parkinson vigorously fought the charges brought against him by Detective Lisa Alexander and falsely accused Dan Jones of rape and abuse but Earlier this year, Parkinson eventually pleaded guilty and admitted in court that he had made it all up.

She was sentenced to three years and one month in prison. At least two of those years she will spend behind bars. So why did she do well according to the report? DPP Parkinson was motivated by greed, the house Dan built and the money she hoped to get when Dan was locked up, she saw a comfortable family with some savings and she wanted it and she almost got it, she almost got it, except Lisa Alexander. She didn't count on me, sir, and as criminals go, how do you classify her? She would be among the worst. I think it's horrible what she did.

I think it's horrible that someone could do that to another person. I can't understand what. She made the fact that Sarah Jane Parkinson was, as the court described, a pathological liar shocking enough, but the question the Jones family wants answered is why she was able to cause so much harm, why Polly didn't stop her sooner. and why not. the DPP's evidence the evidence the police claimed to have this was a failure on every point the police the legal profession the judiciary a DPP every point was a failure and a catastrophic failure catastrophic failure the magistrate said Sarah Jane Parkinson's relationship with the police may have emboldened her, perhaps because she had not been challenged Sarah, in my opinion, you, the system, there are many protections for real victims of domestic violence. and sexual assault, my opinion is that Sarah knew them and abused them, what is the predominant emotion that you carry with you?

A big enough anger survived the anger for six years and still hasn't subsided. I don't know if a will, unless there are possibly people subject to Dan was never guilty, but proving his innocence cost the Jones family over $600,000 and all they owned is money they should never have had to spend and, a Despite the family's pleas, none of the authorities involved are willing to pay, you know, obviously, without mom. and dad's financial backing, then you know he had been in jail and just like that, I'm sorry, yes, I want mom and dad to have what they lost by being compensated for everything that happened.

I mean, she has destroyed our family. Sarah destroyed that family. It's horrible what happened. For the Jameses, I can't even imagine what it would be like, but they are good people and she destroyed that family and then they did nothing to cause this. He did absolutely nothing, nothing. Dan Jones now lives in Perth, staying away from Canberra as best he can and, surprisingly, has found love again with his new girlfriend Bridget, but Dan's story has left them all with deep and lingering emotional scars, all caused by just one person, Sarah Jane Parkinson, would you like to say something to her?

I think I can. Say it on camera Not really, I think if she ever got close to my family again, God help her, so God help her stay away from my family. Sarah Jane Parkinson will probably see this hmm it's whatever you want to tell her no and there is one more insult to the Jones family the real victims of this crime despite what they have been through do not qualify for any compensation their only hope now lies with There's no news yet on the ACT Government authorizing a special payment, but we'll let you know if it happens Hi, I'm Liz Hayes, thanks for watching to keep up to date with the latest news from 60 Minutes Australia.

Make sure to subscribe to our channel. You can also download the 9 Now app to watch full episodes and other exclusive 60 Minutes content.