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Woman who falsely accused Duke lacrosse players of rape in 2006 publicly admits she lied

Woman who falsely accused Duke lacrosse players of rape in 2006 publicly admits she lied

RALEIGH, NC — The woman who in 2006 falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of raping her — making national headlines that stirred tensions over race, class and privilege among college athletes — has publicly admitted for the first time given that he invented the story.

Crystal Mangum, who is black, said in an interview with the Let’s Talk with Kat podcast that she “made up a story that wasn’t true” about white players attending a party she was hired to perform at like striptease. “Because I wanted validation from people and not from God.”

“I falsely testified against them saying they raped me when they didn’t and that was wrong,” Mangum, 46, said in the interview, which was released Monday. The interview was recorded last month at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women, where Mangum is incarcerated for fatally stabbing her boyfriend in 2011.

The former Duke players were found not guilty in 2007 after Mangum’s story collapsed under legal scrutiny.

The state attorney general’s office concluded there was no credible evidence that an attack ever took place, and its investigation turned up no DNA, witnesses or other evidence to corroborate Mangum’s story.

The Durham prosecutor who argued Mangum’s case was disbarred for lying and misconduct. Prosecutors at the time declined to file charges against Mangum for the false allegations.

Mangum said in the podcast interview that she hopes the three falsely accused men can forgive her.

“I want them to know that I love them and that they didn’t deserve this,” she said.

Podcaster Kat DePasquale of Durham said she wrote to Mangum because she was curious about the case that had gotten so much attention, and that Mangum wrote back saying she wanted to talk.