Lexington's Sara Ylen is accused of pretending to have cancer to con people out of money. She faces a fraud trial in St. Clair County that's set to begin December 3.
WWJ: Authorities say it’s not clear what Ylen’s motive would have been. Money raised through community fundraisers helped her with rent and other expenses, but there’s no evidence of extravagant living.
This case is not the first time Ylen’s credibility has been challenged. In a separate case in a neighboring county, she is awaiting trial on a charge of making a false report of rape against two men.
The false rape allegation may be even weirder than Ylen's alleged phony cancer. In 2001, she accused a man of sexually assaulting her in a Port Huron parking lot in the middle of the day. She recounted her story to the Port Huron Times-Herald, which won awards for its story. The man she accused, James Grissom, spent a decade behind bars before winning his release last year after he was granted a new trial and charges were dismissed.
Maybe, assuming the cancer fraud charges are true, Ylen's motive is simply that she's crazy.
