Woman Admits She Lied About Duke Lacrosse Players Raping Her Nearly 20 Years Ago: 'I Made Up a Story'

Mar. 15, 2025

The woman whofalsely accused three former Duke University lacrosse playersof raping her at a party nearly 20 years ago has admitted that she lied about the allegations.

Crystal Mangum.AP Photo/Sara D. Davis

AP Photo/Sara D. Davis

The episode, which was released on Wednesday, Dec. 11, according to the campus newspaper, theDuke Chronicle, was recorded on Nov. 13 at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women. Mangum is currently in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder of her then-boyfriend in 2013, per the outlet.

During the recording, Mangum stated that she doesn’t have any regrets and “everything happens to get everybody to the point where they are, it’s all to show God’s love and his forgiveness,” before saying that she made up the allegations about being raped in 2006.

(L-R) Reade Seligmann, David Evans and Collin Finnerty.Travis Long/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty; Sara D. Davis/Getty; Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty

Travis Long/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty; Sara D. Davis/Getty; Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty

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

Mangum then asked Seligmann, Finnerty and Evans for forgiveness.

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

Before now, Mangum had never publicly stated that she made up the allegations.

In her 2008 bookLast Dance for Grace: The Crystal Mangum Story, Mangum wrote, “I will never say that nothing at all happened that night,” per theDuke Chronicle.

Crystal Mangum.Harry Lynch/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty

Harry Lynch/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty

According to local media outletWRAL, citing court records, Mangum initially told police in Durham, N.C., she was raped, sodomized and beaten for a 30-minute period while trapped in a bathroom in the early hours of March 14, 2006.

Based on Mangum’s claims at the time, Seligmann, Finnerty and Evans were each charged with multiple crimes including rape. None of the players’ DNA was found on or inside the accuser’s body, and ultimately, Mangum’s account was debunked, with prosecutors ultimately declaring the players innocent.

After the case against the players collapsed, Mike Nifong, the District Attorney who had originally charged the players, was disbarred in 2007 for unethical conduct, including withholding exculpatory evidence and making inflammatory public statements.

TheAssociated Pressreports Mangum’s mental stability was questioned.

(L-R) David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann.Travis Long/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty

Travis Long/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty

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Per theDuke Chronicle, then-N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper did not prosecute Mangum for perjury after the case was dismissed. He said at the time that the investigators thought “she may have actually believed the many different stories that she has been telling.”

After their case was dismissed in April 2007, Seligmann, Finnerty and Evans  sued former University President Richard Brodheads and the University, according to the outlet. The case resulted in an undisclosed settlement.

The North Carolina Department of Corrections' website lists Mangum’s projected release date as Feb. 27, 2026, per WRAL.

source: people.com