Check out this interesting table I stole from wikipedia.
[TABLE="class: wikitable"]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"][/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Number[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]False reporting rate (%)[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Theilade and Thomsen (1986)[/TH]
[TD]1 out of 56
4 out of 39[/TD]
[TD]1.5% (minimum)
10% (maximum)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]New York Rape Squad (1974)[/TH]
[TD]n/a[/TD]
[TD]2%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Hursch and Selkin (1974)[/TH]
[TD]10 out of 545[/TD]
[TD]2%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Kelly et al. (2005)[/TH]
[TD]67 out of 2,643[/TD]
[TD]3% ("possible" and "probable" false allegations)
22% (recorded by police as "no-crime")[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Geis (197

[/TH]
[TD]n/a[/TD]
[TD]331% (estimates given by police surgeons)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Smith (1989)[/TH]
[TD]17 out of 447[/TD]
[TD]3.8%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]U.S. Department of Justice (1997)[/TH]
[TD]n/a[/TD]
[TD]8%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Clark and Lewis (1977)[/TH]
[TD]12 out of 116[/TD]
[TD]10.3%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Harris and Grace (1999)[/TH]
[TD]53 out of 483
123 out of 483[/TD]
[TD]10.9% ("false/malicious" claims)
25% (recorded by police as "no-crime")[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Lea et al. (2003)[/TH]
[TD]42 out of 379[/TD]
[TD]11%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]HMCPSI/HMIC (2002)[/TH]
[TD]164 out of 1,379[/TD]
[TD]11.8%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]McCahill et al. (1979)[/TH]
[TD]218 out of 1,198[/TD]
[TD]18.2%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Philadelphia police study (196

[/TH]
[TD]74 out of 370[/TD]
[TD]20%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Chambers and Millar (1983)[/TH]
[TD]44 out of 196[/TD]
[TD]22.4%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Grace et al. (1992)[/TH]
[TD]80 out of 335[/TD]
[TD]24%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Jordan (2004)[/TH]
[TD]68 out of 164
62 out of 164[/TD]
[TD]41% ("false" claims)
38% (viewed by police as "possibly true/possibly false")[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Kanin (1994)[/TH]
[TD]45 out of 109[/TD]
[TD]41%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Gregory and Lees (1996)[/TH]
[TD]49 out of 109[/TD]
[TD]45%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Maclean (1979)[/TH]
[TD]16 out of 34[/TD]
[TD]47%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Stewart (1981)[/TH]
[TD]16 out of 18[/TD]
[TD]90%[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Those are some startling numbers. They don't measure the lives ruined of the innocent falsely accused. Hard to get past an accusation like that even when you've been exonerated.