Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann look on during a news conference on April 11, 2007, in Raleigh, N.C. Photo: AP Photo/Chuck Burton

In 2006, Crystal Mangum alleged that three Duke lacrosse players raped her at a party. Nearly two decades later, she has admitted to fabricating the story.

At the time, Mangum was an exotic dancer who had been hired to perform at an off-campus Duke lacrosse team party on March 13, 2006. She initially told police that she was raped, sodomized and beaten for a 30-minute period while trapped in a bathroom in the early morning hours of March 14, per local media outlet WRAL, citing court records.

Following her claims, Duke lacrosse players Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans were falsely charged with multiple crimes including rape, sparking a nationwide scandal after no DNA evidence linked them to the crime. The charges were eventually dropped, and in April 2007, the men were exonerated.

During a Dec. 12 episode of the web show Let’s Talk with Kat, Mangum publicly admitted for the first time that she “made up a story that wasn’t true.”

“I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn’t, and that was wrong,” she said. “And I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me … I wanted validation from people and not from God.”

From Crystal Mangum’s recent admission to where the falsely accused players are today, here’s a look back at the 2006 Duke lacrosse scandal that rocked the nation.

Who is Crystal Mangum?

Crystal Mangum, the alleged victim in the 2006 Duke lacrosse rape case, addresses the media during a press conference on the release of Mangum’s book ‘The Last Dance for Grace: The Crystal Mangum Story.’.AP Photo/Sara D. Davis

Crystal Mangum was a 28-year-old North Carolina Central University student at the time of the 2006 scandal. Outside of her studies, she was working as an exotic dancer, and was hired to perform at an off-campus house party.

She claimed she was raped that night by three Duke lacrosse players and maintained her story for years (albeit different accounts), only to admit in late 2024 that she had falsified the allegations.

According to CNN, Mangum is currently serving time for a 2013 second-degree murder conviction for stabbing her boyfriend. She was sentenced to a minimum of 14 years in prison, per the Duke Chronicle.

The outlet reported that Mangum had fatally stabbed Reginald Daye during an altercation at his home. She testified that she acted in self-defense, claiming that her boyfriend had struck her, knocked her down and choked her. As she testified as part of her own defense, Mangum maintained that she hadn’t meant to kill him.

Who are the Duke Lacrosse players?

(L to R): Former Duke University lacrosse players Reade Seligmann, David Evans and Collin Finnerty, who were falsely accused of sexual assault in 2006.Travis Long/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty; Sara D. Davis/Getty; Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty

The Duke Lacrosse players accused of rape by Mangum in 2006 were Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans, who were 20, 19 and 23 years old at the time, respectively. According to Vanity Fair, they were three of the four co-captains on the Duke men’s lacrosse team.

What were the Duke Lacrosse players accused of?

Duke University lacrosse player Collin Finnerty leaves the DC Superior Courthouse on Tuesday, April 25, 2006, in Washington.AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Seligmann, Finnerty and Evans were accused of raping Mangum during an off-campus party in March 2006. Mangum and another woman, who were both exotic dancers at the time, were reportedly hired to perform at the party for $400 each.

Mangum claimed that about 40 men (some of which were allegedly verbally abusive) were present, prompting her and the other dancer to quickly leave. However, Mangum was convinced to return, claiming that once she arrived back at the house, she was dragged into the bathroom and assaulted by three men.

According to a police report, she “tried to leave [but] the three males forcefully held her legs and arms and sexually assaulted her.”

What were the Duke Lacrosse players charged with?

Duke lacrosse player David Evans proclaims his innocence as he addresses the media outside the Durham County Detention Center after being indicted on sexual assault charges on May 15, 2006, in Durham, N.C.Sara D. Davis/Getty

Following Mangum’s sexual assault allegations against the three men, Seligmann, Finnerty and Evans were each charged with multiple crimes including rape.

Prosecutors said a rape kit had later revealed that Mangum had been raped and sodomized, and police found her broken fingernails, cell phone and a shoe in the house just two days after the alleged incident. However, there was no DNA evidence implicating any of the three men accused of assaulting her.

During a 2006 court appearance, Evans declared, “I am innocent.”

He continued, “You have all been told some fantastic lies, and I look forward to watching them unravel in the weeks to come.”

Was there a trial?

Duke lacrosse player Reade Seligmann confers with his attorney, Kirk Osborn, on May 18, 2006, during court proceedings in Durham, N.C.AP Photo/Harry Lynch

Although they were indicted after the incident, in the end, there was no trial.

Seligmann, Finnerty and Evans were exonerated of the charges in April 2007 — a year after the alleged attack — after the state’s then-Attorney General Roy Cooper (who took over the case in January of that year) reviewed it and declared that the charges never should have been brought against them, per CNN.

Cooper — who currently serves as North Carolina’s governor — then turned his attention toward prosecutor Mike Nifong, whom Cooper had once called “rogue.”

Nifong had reportedly withheld from disclosing that the DNA did not match the three accused men and, as Cooper said, “pushed ahead unchecked.” According to the Duke Chronicle, Nifong was later disbarred for perjury and violating professional conduct.

After their case was dismissed, Seligmann, Finnerty and Evans sued the university and former university president Richard Brodhead, alleging that he repeatedly made false statements and conspired to deprive them of their right to a fair trial, per the Duke Chronicle. Duke University and the three lacrosse players later reached an undisclosed settlement. (However, Vanity Fair reported it to be $20 million.)

The three men also sued the City of Durham in a case that exposed flaws in the Durham criminal justice system, per the Charlotte Observer. The case eventually settled and the city of Durham agreed to make a $50,000 grant to the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, according to the outlet.

The Associated Press also reported that Mangum’s mental stability was questioned once the case was dropped. Per the Duke Chronicle, Cooper did not prosecute Mangum for perjury, saying that investigators thought “she may have actually believed the many different stories that she has been telling.”

What did Crystal Mangum say about her fake allegations?

Crystal Mangum, the alleged victim in the 2006 Duke lacrosse rape case, during a press conference on Oct. 23, 2008, in Durham, N.C.AP Photo/Sara D. Davis

During the December 2024 Let’s Talk with Kat episode — which was recorded on Nov. 13 at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women — Mangum stated that she doesn’t have any regrets and “everything happens to get everybody to the point where they are.”

“It’s all to show God’s love and his forgiveness,” she added, before admitting to fabricating the rape allegations in 2006.

“That night, Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and Dave Evans, they took me into their home and they trusted. The Bible says that you shouldn’t do harm to your neighbor that lives trustingly beside you, and they were my brothers and they trusted me that I wouldn’t betray their trust,” she said.

Mangum continued that she “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.”

“I didn’t need to seek validation from him because I already had it, I just didn’t know it, and I hurt my brothers,” she added.

Mangum proceeded to ask for Seligmann, Finnerty and Evans’ forgiveness and said, “I want them to know that I love them, and they didn’t deserve that and I hope they can forgive me.”

“They didn’t deserve that,” she concluded.

However, despite Mangum’s admission, she can presumably no longer be prosecuted for lying under oath as North Carolina’s statute of limitations on perjury charges generally lasts two years.

Where are the Duke Lacrosse players now?

Former Duke lacrosse players Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann smile during a press conference addressing the dismissal of charges stemming from the 2006 team party in Durham, N.C.Travis Long/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty

According to his LinkedIn, Seligmann transferred to Brown University in 2007 and graduated with his bachelor’s degree in 2010. He went on to receive his juris doctor in 2013 from Emory University School of Law. The former lacrosse player has worked as a senior associate at Alston & Bird since November 2016.

Meanwhile, Evans graduated from Duke and went on to receive his master’s of business administration from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, according to his LinkedIn. He joined Apax Digital, focusing on growth equity and buyout investments, in 2009 and has been working as a partner since, per his profile.

As for Finnerty, he left Duke after the incident and spent a year living at home with his family in Garden City, N.Y., per ESPN. In 2008, he enrolled at Loyola University Maryland and continued to play lacrosse.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.