I too thought that rape was when a man came up to a woman on the street & tore off all her clothes. I had a good reason for believing that, though -- it was what my Mum told me when I asked her what "rape" meant. To this day, I still have that image when I hear the word, even though I now,unfortunately, know better.
A childhood belief about criminals

others believed things like this
- When I was a kid I thought rape just meant someone tearing the clothes off of a woman's body.— Matt
- I thought that "statutory rape" were meant to rape a statue.Anon
- when i was little i used to think that rape was where you used a rake to attack someone— terrordrone
- i used to think that the word 'clothes' was the plural for 'clo.' so i'd call a sock or a shirt a clo. — jessimocha
- I thought that the "don't walk" sign at crosswalks meant to run across the street as quickly as possible!— richard
- I used to believe when a radio anouncement for a club said "No Cover" that meant No Clothes.— Aaron