Crystal Mangum, a woman who accused three Duke lacrosse players of rape in 2006, publicly said for the first time that she lied about the allegations.
“I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn’t, and that was wrong,” Mangum said on an episode of the podcast “Let’s Talk with Kat” released this week. “And I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me.”
The episode was recorded in November at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women, where Mangum is serving time after being convicted of second-degree murder for stabbing her boyfriend in April 2011.
“I made up a story that wasn’t true because I wanted validation from people and not from God,” Mangum told podcast host Kat DePasquale about the Duke case, “and that was wrong when God already loved me for who I was regardless.”
The Duke case made national headlines after Mangum, a Black woman, accused lacrosse players David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann of raping her at a party where she was hired to perform as a stripper. It caused the cancellation of the lacrosse team’s 2006 season, and Duke forced coach Mike Pressler to resign.
The North Carolina attorney general’s office reviewed the case and declared Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann innocent in 2007. The attorney general’s office said the charges should not have been brought against the three players and there was no DNA or evidence to corroborate the allegations.
District Attorney Mike Nifong was disbarred for ethics violations, including making false statements and lying about withholding evidence. Prosecutors declined to press charges against Mangum for making false allegations.
Also in 2007, Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann reached an undisclosed settlement with Duke for the school’s handling of the allegations.
“I want them to know that I love them, and they didn’t deserve that, and I hope that they can forgive me,” Mangum said of the players.
(Photo of Crystal Mangum in 2011: Chuck Liddy / Raleigh News & Observer / Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
