The former exotic dancer who accused three Duke University lacrosse players of raping her at party in 2006 now admits she fabricated the allegations, years after the high-profile story unraveled.
“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,” said Mangum, who is currently serving a prison sentence for the second degree murder of her boyfriend in 2013.
“[I] made up a story that wasn’t true,” Mangum told Let’s Talk With Kat from the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women on Thursday. It was the first time she publicly acknowledged that she lied about the allegations.
She said she fabricated the encounter because she “wanted validation from people and not from God.”
Mangum, now 46, said she hopes the former players she accused — David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann — can forgive her.
“I want them to know that I love them, and they didn’t deserve that, and I hope that they can forgive me,” she said.
