BAY MINETTE, Alabama — A Loxley man was arrested last week after an investigation by the Baldwin County District Attorney’s office alleged that he falsely accused a Fairhope police officer of rape and threatened the officer with a promise to go to the media with the allegations.

“Last month, the Fairhope Police Department received an anonymous call alleging that one of the Fairhope police officers had raped a woman,” said Baldwin County District Attorney Hallie Dixon said. “This caller also made two harassing calls to the officer, during which he threatened to tell reporters the same story.”

Fairhope Police Chief Bill Press requested that the District Attorney’s Office investigate, Dixon said, “in order to ensure that the investigation be handled in a manner that would be above reproach.”

“I commend Fairhope Police Department for the above-board handling of this incident,” she said.

The District Attorney’s Office initially looked into the rape allegation. After determining that there was no basis for the allegation against the officer, investigators focused on the person who generated the report.

Further investigation identified the caller as Andrew Jackson Boyington, 26, of Prado Loop, Loxley. Boyington was charged with filing a false report, a Class A misdemeanor, and harassing communications.

If convited, Boyington faces up to one year in jail on the charge of filing a false report, and three months in jail on the harassment charge.

“False reporting not only harms the person falsely accused,” Dixon said, “but also can be detrimental to the prosecution of legitimate victims.”

Boyington was released from the Baldwin County Corrections Facility last week on a $500 bond.