"I mean, the rape victim turned out fine, she wasn't physically harmed and wasn't too deeply affected by the trauma, she gets to live a totally normal life, save the heavy sentences for the cases where the more long-term effects DO happen"  That's not how crimes work. And we have NO idea what fallout might have happened for the guys investigated. That kind of thing can cause social crucifying and fuck up careers, even after this stuff turns out with false accusation proven.