Editor’s note: This story contains mentions of rape and violence.
A woman at the center of the Duke University lacrosse scandal said she lied when she accused three players of raping her in 2006.
Crystal Mangum, a former exotic dancer, spoke on the “Let’s Talk with Kat” podcast last month, admitting she falsely accused David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann of raping her. The episode was made public on Dec. 11, 2024.
“I testified falsely that they raped me when they didn’t, and that was wrong,” Mangum said on the podcast.
It is the first time Mangum has publicly stated she lied. When asked why, Mangum said she made up a story that wasn’t true because she “wanted validation from people and not from God.”
Mangum first admitted the lie in an Oct. 28 letter to Katerena DePasquale, host of the podcast. She wrote:
“It’s been on my heart to do a public apology concerning the Duke Lacrosse case. I actually lied about the incident to the public, my family, my friends and to God about it, and I’m not proud about it.”Crystal Mangum, Duke Lacrosse accuser
In 2006, Mangum accused the three men of sexually assaulting and raping her after they trapped her inside a bathroom at a house near Duke’s east campus. According to court records, Mangum initially told Durham police that she was raped, sodomized and beaten for a 30-minute period during the early-morning hours of March 14 in a bathroom of a home on Buchanan Boulevard, where she performed as an exotic dancer. The house has since been torn down.
Even as the investigation into the claims was unfolding, then-Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong pursued charges of first-degree rape, kidnapping and sexual assault against the three players.
Nifong later recused himself from the case and was found guilty of lying about DNA evidence that would have cleared the men.
Mangum’s story about the incident was so inconsistent that then-Attorney General Roy Cooper later declared the players innocent, saying there was no credible evidence against them.
“As attorney general, it was important for me to take that case from the local prosecutor and do an investigation to find the real truth,” said Cooper, now the governor of North Carolina, during a press conference on Friday. “It is why I dismissed the charges and took the extra step to declare those players innocent of the alleged crimes. That’s why I did that.”
Nifong resigned in disgrace. Duke lacrosse players of that era – both the men indicted and others on the team – have since pursued civil litigation to restore their reputations. Former Duke lacrosse coach Mike Pressler, who had been with Duke 16 seasons, lost his job because of the case and sued the university.
Mangum is currently serving time in prison after she was convicted of killing her then-boyfriend, 46-year-old Reginald Daye, in 2011. She said her time in prison has been marked by “growth” and that she spends a lot of time reading the Bible.
At the end of the podcast episode, Mangum said she hopes the men she accused can one day forgive her, adding they “didn’t deserve [the accusations].”
“They were my brothers, and they trusted me that I wouldn’t betray their trust,” Mangum said in the interview. “And I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me.”
The North Carolina Department of Corrections’ website lists Mangum’s projected release date as Feb. 27, 2026. She’s currently at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh.
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