DURHAM, N.C. — A former exotic dancer who accused three Duke University lacrosse players of rape nearly 20 years ago now says she lied about the encounter.
Crystal Mangum, who is currently serving jail time for a second-degree murder conviction for fatally stabbing her boyfriend in 2011, admitted on a podcast last week that she was not raped, NBC reports.
“I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn’t and that was wrong,” she told podcaster Kate Katerena during an interview at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women. “I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me and made up a story that wasn’t true because I wanted validation from people and not from God and that was wrong when God already loved me for who I was.”
Mangum and other dancers were hired to perform at a party thrown by Duke lacrosse players on March 13, 2006. She accused then-students David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann of raping her at the party. The three players were arrested following the allegations.
Charges Dropped, Durham County DA Disbarred
The media attention forced the cancellation of the team’s 2006 season and cost coach Mike Pressler his job, according to CNN. Charges were eventually dropped in April 2007 after the state’s then-Attorney General Roy Cooper reviewed the case and exonerated the three men, declaring charges never should have been brought against them.
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It was also determined that Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong withheld evidence from defense lawyers that could have cleared the men sooner. He was disbarred in 2007.
Duke and the three players reached an undisclosed settlement after the charges were dropped. The city of Durham also settled a lawsuit by the three men in 2014. As part of the settlement, the city agreed to pay $50,000 to the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission.
False Sexual Assault Allegations Statistics and the Impact
One 2010 study found false sexual assault reports make up 2-10% of reported assaults. The FBI estimates unfounded rapes, which are those determined to be false after an investigation, make up 8% of accusations.
However, experts believe those numbers are inflated because of the lack of standardized terminology used by law enforcement. Also, according to the Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Survey, only about a third of sexual assaults are reported even though the CDC has found that one in three women and one in six men have been sexually assaulted at some point in their lives.
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Studies also show boys and men are much more likely to be a victim of sexual assault themselves than to be a victim of a false accusation of sexual assault.
False rape accusations have far reaching consequences, both for the accused and those who are real victims of sexual assault. According to the Statute Law Review, although criminal sanctions against persons falsely accused are rare, they may suffer considerable societal stigma, damage to reputation, and psychological harm.
The proliferation of false rape accusations also result in actual victims of rape or sexual assault being treated with mistrust and being disproportionately interrogated before their reports are acted upon.
