BAY CITY, MI -- Earlier this year, a 21-year-old woman claimed she was attacked and raped in a Delta College parking lot. After a lengthy police investigation, the woman confessed to fabricating the incident.

Now, she's facing a felony charge.

Mary T. Zolkowski on Monday, Aug. 14, voluntarily appeared in Bay County District Court for arraignment on one count of false report of a felony. The charge is punishable by up to four years of imprisonment and a $2,000 fine.

The evening of Feb. 22, Zolkowski's mother called the Delta College Public Safety Office and said her daughter was claiming to have been raped on campus, 1961 Delta Road in Frankenlust Township. On the phone with police herself, Zolkowski said that about 5:50 p.m. that day, she had been walking to her vehicle, fumbling with her keys, when a man grabbed her from behind. She said he grabbed her face and throat and proceeded to rape her, not wearing a condom as he did so.

She said she only saw her attacker's hands during the incident. When it was over, the assailant jumped into the passenger seat of a vehicle and took off. Zolkowski could not provide a description of the vehicle, adding she "kind of blacked out," court records show.

Zolkowski allegedly told police she did not want a physical examination, nor did she want investigators coming to her house.

The next day, Zolkowski met with Public Safety Director Robert Battinkoff and Delta's Title IX Coordinator Loyce Brown on campus. She allegedly told them she had dropped her courses due to the incident, but it was later determined she dropped classes prior to Feb. 22.

Zolkowski said the incident occurred in the campus' northwest parking lot, investigators claim. She added her neck and back were sore, but she did not bear any bruising, court records show. She went on to say she did not want to be involved in a police investigation.

Investigators later learned a women's softball team had been practicing near the lot where the assault allegedly occurred. They spoke with the team's coach, who said neither he nor his players saw anything suspicious.

Police also learned a parolee with sexual assault convictions was on campus at the time of the alleged assault. He denied any knowledge of the incident and passed a polygraph test.

Police also examined Zolkowski's car but failed to turn up any evidence.

On March 17, Chief Battinkoff and Brown again met with Zolkowski. She told them she had been raped by an acquaintance earlier on Feb. 22 at an apartment in Saginaw Township. She said she was intoxicated at the time and could not give consent to sexual activity, court records show. After the assault, she drove the man to Delta College, she said.

Zolkowski went on to apologize for the confusion and said she did not want the man prosecuted, court records show.

Police interviewed the man Zolkowski named as her assailant. He said he had been with Zolkowski on Feb. 22 and that they had never gone to Delta. He provided investigators with text messages they had exchanged, in which Zolkowski claims to have been raped by a stranger at Walmart after they had separated. In another message, Zolkowski asks the man not to participate in the police investigation, court records show.

The man went on to tell police Zolkowski had told him she was trying to get a refund from Delta.

On May 12, Battinkoff and Brown interviewed Zolkowski again. Since their last time with her, Zolkowski had filed a report with the Saginaw Township Police Department claiming the man she had previously named had shoved her to the floor and raped her. Zolkowski again changed her story to said she had willingly had intercourse with the man, court records show.

She added she had wanted to tell the man to stop during the act, but it ended before she could.

Zolkowski is represented by Saginaw attorney James F. Piazza, who declined to comment when contacted by The Times.

Zolkowski's arraigning judge freed her on a personal recognizance bond. She is to appear for a preliminary examination before District Judge Mark E. Janer at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 29.