MELVILLE, N.Y. — Prosecutors deciding whether to charge the woman who falsely reported that she was gang-raped in a Hofstra University men’s room last week will have serious issues to weigh, experts said yesterday.

On the one hand, they will want to discourage people from lying to law enforcement, and show that there will be consequences for doing so, experts said.

On the other, they don’t want to discourage legitimate rape victims from coming forward, or discourage people who lied at first from telling the truth later on, experts said

“That’s the tension right now in the D.A.’s office,” said Jim Cohen, a criminal law professor at Fordham University.

“There should be some sanction for the consequences she caused,” he said.

“On the other hand, if they charge this woman, then someone similarly situated in the future might decide to stick with her story rather than coming clean.

A law enforcement source said Sunday that it is likely that the woman, who prosecutors have not named because she has not been charged with a crime, is “likely” to face charges this week.

The woman told Nassau, N.Y., police that she was tied up and gang-raped about 3 a.m. Sept. 13 in a Hofstra University dormitory bathroom by five young men, authorities said.

Four of the men, one of them a Hofstra student, were charged with rape in a case that gained nationwide attention

She recanted Wednesday evening, after prosecutors interviewing her told her that a cell-phone video of the incident might exist

Cornell Bouse, president of the Nassau Criminal Courts Bar Association, said the crimes the woman would most likely be charged with are all Class A misdemeanors, carrying a maximum of a year in jail.

Lois Schwaeber, director of legal services for the Nassau County Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said cases where people make false reports of rape hurt all legitimate rape victims seeking justice.

But she said prosecuting someone who has made a false report will discourage real rape victims from coming forward as well.

“They may feel that if they can’t support the charges they are making with enough proof, they could be charged.”

KC Johnson, who wrote a recent book about the false rape charges filed against three Duke University lacrosse players in 2006, said the mental health of the person making the false report may also be an issue.

In the Duke case, the state attorney who took over from Durham District Attorney Michael Nifong, did not charge the woman, in part because he had seen voluminous medical records proving she was deeply disturbed

“This is one of the reasons prosecutors have discretion about whether to file charges,” Johnson said. “It is perfectly appropriate for them to take all these factors into account.”

• Ann Givens