Crystal Mangum admits she lied about accusing Duke lacrosse players of rape in 2006 case

Crystal Mangum publicly acknowledged for the first time that her rape allegation against three Duke University lacrosse players in 2006 was false. The case, which gained national attention, was widely portrayed by both the prosecution and the media as an assault by a group of male athletes on a Black woman.

Eighteen years later, Mangum acknowledged on the podcast Let's Talk with Kat that he “falsely” testified against David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann. "I made up a story that wasn’t true because I wanted validation from people and not from God," she now claims from prison, where she is being held for stabbing her boyfriend to death in 2011.

Although the college students were found not guilty in 2007, they were arrested and prosecuted based on lies. Also, the team’s lacrosse season was suspended for an entire year and the university forced the coach, Mike Pressler, to resign.

In addition, district attorney Mike Nifong was disbarred for issuing false testimony and withholding evidence, among other ethics violations. "The circumstances of the rape indicated a deep racial motivation for some of the things that were done. It makes a crime that is by its nature one of the most offensive and invasive even more so," Nifong said at the time, in an interview with The New York Post.

According to the Post, Magnum was not prosecuted for perjury following the defendants' acquittal due to concerns about her mental health, and despite her current confession she can no longer face charges for lying under oath because those are barred by the two-year statute of limitations in North Carolina.

Mangum's confession has sparked numerous reactions, including a post by President-elect Donald Trump: "Woman admits to totally fabricating accusations in the horrible Duke Lacrosse Case. She destroyed the lives of these young men."

"The Duke lacrosse case was an inciting incident for things like Black Lives Matter," conservative commentator Ben Shapiro said. He was also a supporter of the MeToo movement and the "believe all women. Where do you go to get your life back?" he said, recalling that the father of one of the accused testified that the allegation had ruined the lives of the young men and their families. He claimed that the case led to legal changes during the Barack Obama administration that made it difficult to defend against false accusations.