Duke Lacrosse Accuser Finally Admits She Lied

A woman who accused three Duke University lacrosse players of rape in 2006 has publicly admitted for the first time to making a false claim. "I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn't," Crystal Mangum said in an interview published Wednesday. "And that was wrong." The case against David Evans, Collin Finnerty, and Reade Seligmann was dismissed in 2007, but it "permanently altered" the lives of those involved, per the Duke Chronicle. Roy Cooper, North Carolina's attorney general at the time, did not prosecute Mangum for perjury, saying investigators thought "she may have actually believed the many different stories that she has been telling."

Mangum was an exotic dancer hired for a house party the lacrosse team held on March 13, 2006. She later said three players trapped her in a bathroom and raped her, per WRAL. The statute of limitations on perjury charges in North Carolina is typically two years, meaning "Mangum can no longer be prosecuted for lying under oath," per the Chronicle. She said she "made up a story that wasn't true because I wanted validation from people and not from God." "And I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me," Mangum tells interviewer Katerena DePasquale, speaking from the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women, where she's being held for the second-degree murder of a boyfriend in 2013.

Mangum, who spoke much of her faith in God, asked for the men's forgiveness, saying she hoped they "can heal." DePasquale said she didn't realize Mangum wanted to apologize to the former players when she first requested an interview. In her response, Mangum said she was "not proud" to have lied and "it's been on my heart to do a public apology," per the Chronicle. "I admire her courage," DePasquale wrote on her website, adding she was "struck by her openness and thoughtful honesty." A media storm resulted from Mangum's false claims. The university later reached an undisclosed settlement with the players, who argued former University President Richard Brodhead had sought to deprive them of a fair trial. (More Crystal Mangum stories.)