Crystal Mangum, Woman Who Accused 3 Duke Lacrosse Players Of Rape In 2006, Admits She Was Lying All Along

Crystal Mangum, a woman who accused three former Duke University lacrosse players of raping her almost 20 years ago, admitted that she made up the allegations.

In 2006 while Magnum was working as a stripper, she accused the three students, in their early 20s at the time, of raping her in a bathroom at a party where she was hired to perform.

Mangum is in prison for the 2013 second-degree murder of her boyfriend.

On the December 11 episode of the Let’s Talk with Kat podcast, Mangum told host Katerina DePasquale she regretted the decision and asked the three players – Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans – for their forgiveness.

In the episode, Magnum asserted, “Everything happens to get everybody to the point where they are, it’s all to show god’s love and his forgiveness.”

She proceeded to reveal the truth about her previous accusations:

“I’m a living witness of God’s forgiveness…That night, Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and Dave Evans, they took me into their home, and they trusted. The Bible says that you shouldn’t do harm to your neighbor that lives trustingly beside you, and they were my brothers, and they trusted me that I wouldn’t betray their trust. And I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn’t. And that was wrong, and I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me.”

She continued, “I 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 regardless…didn’t need to seek validation from him because I already had it, I just didn’t know it, and I hurt my brothers.”

Magnum added, “I want them to know that I love them and they didn’t deserve that and I hope they can forgive me…And I hope they can heal and trust God and know that God loves them.”

When she contacted to inquire about the possibility of an interview, Mangum was excited to use the platform to spread her message.

Seligmann, Finnerty and Evans were charged with multiple crimes, but when none of their DNA was found on or inside Mangum, prosecutors declared the players innocent. The case was investigated by then-Attorney General Roy Cooper, now the state’s governor, who exonerated the three men.

After the case was dismissed in April 2007, the three players sued former University President Richard Brodheads and the University, which resulted in an undisclosed settlement. 

While cases in which individuals lie about the presence of sexual assault do occur, studies have found less than 2% of reports to be false. When an individual admits to making up an allegation, it is more likely that they are being forced to pretend than it is for them to have been lying about the rape.

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