Woman who falsely accused Duke lacrosse players of rape in 2006 publicly admits she lied

A woman who falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of rape nearly 20 years ago, including two with Long Island connections, has admitted for the first time that she made up the story.

Crystal Mangum, 46, a former exotic dancer who is now in prison for the second-degree murder of her boyfriend in 2013, told the "Let’s Talk with Kat" podcast that she "made up a story that wasn't true because I wanted validation from people and not from God. And that was wrong."

Mangum, who is Black, made national headlines in 2006 when she accused three white Duke players — David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann — of rape at an off-campus party. The students were later exonerated.

In an interview posted last week, and recorded last month at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women, Mangum for the first time admitted that she lied about the assault, which stirred national tensions about race and class.

"They trusted me that I wouldn’t betray their trust," Mangum said. "And I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn’t. And that was wrong."

The statute of limitations on perjury charges in North Carolina is two years.

Reached by text message Friday, Finnerty, who grew up in Garden City and now lives in Brooklyn, declined to comment. His mother, Mary Finnerty, also declined to comment.

Evans, who was raised in Bethesda, Maryland, and now lives in Manhasset, and Seligmann, who was raised in Essex Fells, New Jersey, and now lives in Morristown, New Jersey, did not respond to requests for comment.

Newsday interviewed Finnerty in 2010 at his parent's Garden City home shortly after his graduation from Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore, where he transferred after leaving Duke. He described watching his public identity transform from student to criminal and retreating into a small circle of family and friends.

"We definitely wanted to say something to calm everyone down and let people know who we really were," Finnerty said at the time. "My mom can attest to it — you wanted to scream at people. That was pretty hard to deal with."

The three men were indicted on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual offense after Mangum told police she was assaulted at a March 13, 2006, party.

The accusations polarized the Duke campus, the city of Durham, North Carolina, and much of the nation but the story eventually fell apart under scrutiny.

Mike Nifong, the Durham prosecutor who championed Mangum’s case, was later disbarred for lying and misconduct and convicted of criminal contempt. Nifong was accused of withholding results of lab tests that found DNA from several men — none of them Duke lacrosse team members — on the accuser's underwear and body.

Then-North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, who is now the state's governor, later took over the case and determined in 2007 that there was no credible evidence an attack ever occurred. Cooper said at the time that the investigation found no DNA, witness or other evidence to confirm Mangum’s story.

The three players later reached an undisclosed financial settlement with the university while the city of Durham settled a separate lawsuit filed by the men in 2014.

Mangum, meanwhile, asked for forgiveness from the men she accused.

"I want them to know that I love them and they didn't deserve it. And I hope they can forgive me," Mangum said in the podcast. "I hope they can heal and trust God and know that God loves them."

Mangum is scheduled to be released from prison on Feb. 27, 2026, according to North Carolina prison records.   

With AP

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.