Quick Facts of Wanetta Gibson

Wanetta Gibson

What worse could a person do to ruin another person’s life than make a false accusation of rape? The then fifteen-year-old Wanetta Gibson’s rape case stirred a lot of tension in the whole country. Highschooler raped in her school led to many protests. But only after five years of the incident, it was revealed that Wanetta Gibson’s accusation against her alleged “rapist” was false.

Wanetta unwillingly ruined the boy’s life. What do you think made her take that step? Also, where is then 17-year old doing now? To find out about their complete story, read the article until the end? Also, did Wanetta get punished for her false claims? Find out.

Raped by a Senior High-Schooler

Wanetta Gibson was born in 1987 in the United States of American. Born to mother, Wanda Rhodes. Although the identity of her father is unknown. She attended Long Beach Polytechnic High in Southern California. The information about  Wanetta being a single child is not confirmed. However, she was raised by a mother who always had money in her mind.

Wanetta Gibson in her mid-20s posing to take a selfie.
Wanetta Gibson in her mid-20s. Source: Distractify

In 2002, when Gibson was in her sophomore year of high school, she met Brian Banks, a senior in the same school. Brian Banks was athletic, and already a football star in their high school. The two seemed to have feelings for each other. According to Wanetta Gibson, as the two were making out, Banks forced her into an empty stairway in their high school and raped her.

Brian Banks during his High-School wearing a football jersey.
Brian Banks during his High-School. Source: AP News

Following the incident, Brian Banks was expelled from school. The chance of him getting a scholarship to UCLA was gone. Moreover, Wanetta Gibson and her mother sued Long Beach Unified School District for letting the crime happen in the school itself. The lawsuit was settled after they got paid $1.5Million. 

False Rape Accusation

Because of the accusation, by the end of the day, Brian Banks was already inside the prison. Although, he kept pleading that he wasn’t guilty about anything. He kept claiming that they didn’t have any physical relationship between them; nobody believed him. Except for his mother, Leomia Meyers. Leomia thought that she did not raise his son to be a rapist. Moreover, the then-16-year-old Gibson didn’t even have the word “rapist” in his vocabulary.

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After the family could not pay $1Million bail money, Braian had to wait for a year for a trial. In 2004, Brian Banks was sentenced to 5 years in prison on two counts of forcible rape and kidnapping of Wanetta Gibson. Likewise, after his release, he had to be registered as a sex offender.

Brian Banks Was Cleared of All The Charges Against Him!

In March 2011, as Brian Banks was searching for jobs online, he received a friend request from nonother than Wanetta Gibson. Wanetta wanted to meet up with Brian, and during a meetup, Gibson confessed that Brian never raped her. In May 2012, because of the confession video, Brian Banks was dismissed of all charges against him, and the sex offender status was released. Wanetta is the mother of two children who are only a year apart from each other. She had them with different partners.

Net Worth

Wanetta Gibson was given $1.6million as a settlement for her lawsuit by the Long Beach Unified School District. After she and her mother received the money, both went to spend it carelessly. But despite the settlement, they continued to live in a filthy apartment complex. Wanda Rhodes spent all the money buying cars, big-screen tv. She bought her mother a Suburban and a Dodge.

However, after frittering away their money, the women were very much in debt. They started moving from town to town to avoid all the communication with the debt collectors. Also, after the discovery of the false accusation, the Long Beach Unified School District filed a lawsuit of $2.6Million against Wanetta Gibson.