Former stripper and convicted murderer Crystal Mangum finally confessed on Thursday that she lied and "made up a story" that three Duke University lacrosse players had raped her at a team party in 2006. The 46-year-old mother of three, is currently in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder for stabbing her boyfriend with a kitchen knife in 2011.
From behind bars, she gave an interview to Let's Talk with Kat, an independent content creator who published their conversation on Thursday. During the interview, Mangum confessed that she had fabricated the entire story. Mangum even acknowledged that the three falsely accused men "trusted me that I wouldn't betray their trust."
Admitting the Big Lies
"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," Magnum told the independent media outlet. "[I] made up a story that wasn't true," she added.
Mangum admitted that she made up the accusation because she "wanted validation from people and not from God."
She explained that her desire for acceptance also drove her decision to become a stripper, despite holding a college degree.
Mangum offered an apology to the three men she falsely accused—David Evans, Collin Finnerty, and Reade Seligmann—and pleaded for their forgiveness. "I hope that they can forgive me," she said, referring to the men as her "brothers" in the biblical sense. "I want them to know that I love them, and they didn't deserve that, and I hope that they can forgive me."
Until Thursday's revelation, Mangum had never publicly admitted to fabricating the rape allegation.
Under North Carolina law, she cannot face prosecution for perjury because the statute of limitations for such charges is two years.
Mangum's bombshell confession comes nearly 20 years after she accused the Duke lacrosse players of raping her during a team party in March 2006, where she had been hired to perform.
A Story that was Never Real
Evans, Finnerty, and Seligmann were arrested following the allegations. The case attracted nationwide attention, with tensions escalating after former Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong said in a March 2006 interview with CBS News that "there's no doubt a sexual assault took place" and that the assault was "racially motivated."
"The circumstances of the rape indicated a deep racial motivation for some of the things that were done. It makes a crime that is by its nature one of the most offensive and invasive even more so," said Nifong, who served as the lead prosecutor in the case.
Nifong initially claimed that DNA evidence would exonerate the players, but he backtracked after the tests came back negative. The allegations also prompted former Duke University President Richard Brodhead to take disciplinary action against the lacrosse team.
Brodhead accepted the resignation of head coach Mike Pressler, canceled the remainder of the season, and suspended the three accused players from the university after they were indicted for rape. This was despite his earlier plea for the public to avoid rushing to judgment, as reported by NPR in 2007.
Ultimately, all three players were found innocent, and the charges were dropped in April 2007.
After the case was dismissed, former State Attorney General Roy Cooper, now the governor of North Carolina, chose not to pursue perjury charges against Mangum, citing concerns about her mental health.
In June 2007, the North Carolina State Bar disbarred Nifong for lying in court and withholding DNA evidence that could have cleared the accused players.
Following the dismissal of the rape allegations, Richard Brodhead's handling of the situation faced criticism, prompting him to issue a statement shortly afterward.
"The fact is that we did not get it right, causing the families to feel abandoned when they most needed support," he wrote in the 2007 statement. "This was a mistake. I take responsibility for it, and I apologize."
After their case was dismissed, Evans, Finnerty, and Seligmann filed a lawsuit against Brodhead and Duke University, eventually reaching a settlement for an undisclosed sum.
The three accused Brodhead of making false statements and conspiring to deny them a fair trial. Evans graduated in 2006, while Seligmann transferred to Brown University and Finnerty enrolled at Loyola University Maryland.
