The woman who alleged in 2006 that three Duke lacrosse players raped her admitted on a podcast that she fabricated the story.
In an interview with the "Let's Talk With Kat" podcast, Crystal Mangum said that she lied about the crimes that she accused David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann of committing at a party in 2006. The three were declared innocent in 2007 when Mangum's story did not hold up until legal examination.
“I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn’t and that was wrong,” said Mangum, 46.
On March 13, 2006, Mangum worked as an exotic dancer and had been hired to perform at an off-campus Duke lacrosse team party. She told police that she was raped and beaten while trapped in a bathroom.
As a result of her accusations, Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann were falsely charged with rape in addition to other crimes. The case became a national scandal when no DNA evidence or witness was presented that could prove an attack took place.
The prosecutor who took up Mangum's case was disbarred for lying and misconduct. The charges against the three men were dropped and they were exonerated in 2007. The three players reached a settlement with Duke after suing the university for how it handled the rape allegations.
"I hope that they can forgive me,” Mangum said. "I want them to know that I love them, and they didn’t deserve that, and I hope that they can forgive me."
The interview with Durham, North Carolina-based podcaster Kat DePasquale was conducted in November at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women, where Mangum is currently imprisoned for fatally stabbing her boyfriend in 2011.
Mangum was convicted of second-degree murder in 2013 and is eligible to be released as early as 2026.
“I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me,” Mangum added. “I made up a story that wasn't true because I wanted validation from people and not from God."