Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.
A woman currently incarcerated for murdering her boyfriend has revealed why she falsely accused three university students of rape in 2006.
Crystal Mangum, from Durham, North Carolina, publicly confessed to the false accusation for the first time in a new interview on the Let’s Talk with Kat podcast, which she participated in from prison.
This admission comes nearly two decades after Mangum first made the accusation, and just over ten years since she was sentenced to up to 18 years in prison for the murder of Reginald Daye, 46, in 2011.
During the interview, Mangum stated about the students: “’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.”
Her accusation followed her performance as a stripper at an off-campus party hosted by Duke University’s lacrosse team members.
Subsequent to the party, Mangum accused students Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans of raping her in a bathroom.
Upon being indicted, Evans commented: “You have all been told some fantastic lies, and I look forward to watching them unravel in the weeks to come, as they already have in weeks past…. The truth will come out.”
Mike Nifong, the Durham District Attorney at that time, pursued charges of first-degree rape, kidnapping, and sexual assault against the three players. Nonetheless, North Carolina’s attorney general dismissed the charges when discrepancies appeared between the evidence and Mangum’s accounts.
DNA evidence failed to match any of the 46 players on the lacrosse team, leading Attorney General Roy Cooper to assert there was no credible evidence against the players, ultimately declaring them innocent.
Currently, Mangum has shared the reasons behind her false claims about the events of that day in 2006.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPfPa7Xqc24
She informed podcast host Katerena that she fabricated the story because she ‘wanted validation from people and not from God’.
Magnum expressed a hope that Evans, Finnerty, and Seligmann might one day forgive her for the accusations, saying they ‘didn’t deserve’ them.
“I hope that [the players] can heal and trust God and know that God loves them and that God is loving them through me, letting them know that they’re valuable and they didn’t deserve that,” she said.
Following the dismissal of charges, each of the three players received $20 million in a settlement. Mangum was not charged for making false accusations.
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673), which is available 24/7, or chat online via online.rainn.org