Duke lacrosse players' rape accuser admits she lied

(The Hill) -- A woman who accused three former Duke University men’s lacrosse players of rape nearly two decades ago admitted she lied about the allegations and asked them for forgiveness. 

Crystal Mangum, the former exotic dancer, confessed to lying about the encounter in 2006 during her appearance on the “Let’s Talk with Kat” podcast, hosted by Katerena DePasquale. 

“I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn’t, and that was wrong,” Magnum said during the episode, released Wednesday. “And I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me.” 

“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,” she added. 

The episode was filmed on Nov. 13 at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women. There, Magnum is behind bars after being convicted of the second-degree murder of her boyfriend in 2013. 

During the podcast episode, Mangum asked three former Duke lacrosse players, David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann, for forgiveness. 

“I want them to know that I love them, and they didn’t deserve that, and I hope that they can forgive me,” Mangum said.

All three of the players were arrested following the sexual assault allegations, sparking a national story. The players were eventually found to be innocent. None of their DNA was found on or inside the accuser’s body, the Duke Chronicle reported.

The district attorney who worked on the case, Mike Nifong, was disbarred, including withholding key evidence, according to Fox News.

Following the case’s dismissal in 2007, Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann sued the school and later reached an undisclosed settlement, the outlet wrote.