SANTA CRUZ — A 20-year-old UC Santa Barbara student who admitted to making a false report of rape on the UC Santa Cruz campus in February has been charged by prosecutors.

Morgan Triplett, 20, faces a misdemeanor allegation of making a false report, Santa Cruz County assistant district attorney Johanna Schonfield said Thursday.

Triplett is expected to be arraigned next week and faces six months in jail, counseling or restitution if convicted, prosecutors said.

Triplett told authorities that she was on a path at UCSC about 12:30 p.m. Feb. 17 looking for banana slugs when a man attacked and raped her, Schonfield said.

Triplett had bruises on her head and torso — which authorities have not yet explained — and called 911. She was taken to Dominican Hospital.

Triplett described her attacker as a man with a moustache and goatee who smelled like cigarettes. She said he had a tattoo on his upper right bicep and wore Oakley sunglasses. A composite sketch was released.

News of the rape kept many students on edge, prompted public meetings and ramped up police patrols.

On Feb. 28, UCSC Police Chief Nader Oweis said the woman admitted to authorities that she “fabricated” the report.

“After an extensive investigation it became apparent that the majority of the information that Ms. Triplett gave the officers was not in fact true,” Schonfield said Thursday.

This story will be updated.

Follow Sentinel reporter Stephen Baxter on Twitter at Twitter.com/sbaxter_sc