Duke Lacrosse Accuser Made Previous Report

AP ^ | Apr 27 2006 | AARON BEARD

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

The woman who says she was raped by three members of Duke's lacrosse team also told police 10 years ago she was raped by three men, filing a 1996 complaint claiming she had been assaulted three years earlier when she was 14.

Authorities in nearby Creedmoor said Thursday that none of the men named in the decade-old report was ever charged but they didn't have details why.

A phone number for the accuser has been disconnected and her family declined to comment to The Associated Press. But relatives told Essence magazine in an online story this week that the woman declined to pursue the case out of fear for her safety.

The existence of the report surprised defense attorneys, one of whom has sought information about the accuser's past for use in attacking her credibility.

"That's the very first I've heard of that," said Bill Cotter, the attorney for indicted lacrosse player Collin Finnerty, who along with fellow Duke sophomore Reade Seligmann is charged with first-degree rape, kidnapping and sexual assault. He declined additional comment.

Attorneys for Seligmann asked the court this week to order the state to turn over the accuser's medical, legal and education records, and hold a pretrial hearing to "determine if the complaining witness is even credible enough to provide reliable testimony."

The accuser, a 27-year-old student at North Carolina Central University in Durham, told police she was hired to perform as a stripper at a March 13 party, where she was raped by three men.

According to the Creedmoor police report in August 1996, when the woman was 18, she told officers she was raped and beaten by three men "for a continual time" in 1993, when she was 14. She told police she was attacked at an "unspecified location" on a street in Creedmoor, a town 15 miles northeast of Durham.

The report lists the names of the three men, but no other details. Creedmoor police Chief Ted Pollard said Thursday he had no recollection of the report, and his staff has been unable to find any additional information about it.

Durham police Officer Brian Bishop, who interviewed the accuser in 1996 while working on the Creedmoor force, said Thursday he had a vague recollection of the report but couldn't remember any details.

When asked about the accuser's previous report of rape, Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong declined to comment.

Before Seligmann and Finnerty were indicted, attorneys for the players pointed to the accuser's criminal history when answering questions about their clients' legal troubles. The woman pleaded guilty to several misdemeanors in 2002.

[Locomotive Breath]

In short - no. The campus is too spread out. Appeasement didn't work for Neville Chamberlin and it won't work for Brodhead either.

[LK44-40]

I suspect even if his hands weren't tied, he wouldn't do much with them.

Even if hands of Broadhead and Burness were tied, they could still function normally....as long as the hands were tied ~in front~.

[Howlin]

That's the same one that NBC17 must have interviewed.

She's ruining lives every single day, isn't she?

[maggief]

Let me see if I can get this right.


AV's mom says her daughter was raped by and exboyfriend and two others in 1993, but did not pursue charges because the suspect threatened to kill her. She lost "tremendous" weight and was suicidal, then taken to a psychiatrist the following week. She was counseled and prescribed prescription drugs for a year. Mom also feels she was misled into divulging the details while wined and dined by Essence.


Dad says he doesn't remember or remembers little about the incident except going with police to a home in Creedmor where he said his daughter was being held "against her will." He has also said he "can't remember" if she was sexually assaulted and the three men "didn't do anything to her."


The cousin said she was 16 at the time, not 13 or 14, and reported the incident right away.


A "family member" says she was picked up from school by her boyfriend and another guy and took her to a third guys house. Two of them raped her, not the guy who's house they were at. She claims the accuser's boyfriend's mother begged the accuser to drop the matter, saying her son was already in trouble with the law and she did not want him to go to jail.


The ex-husband says he believes she was raped. They were engaged at the time she made the report, 8/18/96.


One of the alleged attackers says he was 13 years old at the time and never knew until no that he was even named as an attacker. He also says he doesn't know who she is. He's never heard anything about this until now.

[Publius22]

The reporter on NBC17 who claimed to have spoken to the mother and father yesterday said that, at the time the alleged rape occurred, she was too frightened to report it. Who knows?

[maggief]

I think I've got that covered under the AV's mom ... "but did not pursue charges because the suspect threatened to kill her." ;)

[Peach]

Over here -- check this out (several posts):

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1622621/posts?page=100#100

[RecallMoran]

Brodhead should resign now. The unindoctrinated alumni (that's you and me LB) can't stand for this.

[JLS]

That is a good summary.

While reading your summary a possibility popped into my mind. It would be somewhat supported by the defense attorney saying he did not know of the 1996 rape claim.

We know in 2006, she claimed she was raped by the 3 men. We know in 1996 she claimed that three years earlier at maybe age 15 or maybe 13 she was raped by three men.

Maybe just maybe the cousin is refering to another time she claimed she was raped at age 16 that that time she promptly reported it to the police?

If they were talking about two separate events, it would square what the cousin is saying with what the parents are saying. If there is another claim of rape out there, it would square the 1996 claim about 1993 being new to the defense attorney, but their request of information suggesting that she had possibly claimed rape before.

Now "Occum Razor" suggests that the family is confused/lying is the more likely explannation. But a third claim of rape while age 16 in high school also fits how people are responding to the report of the 1996 claim.

[Sacajaweau]

Onterviews are usually done separately. We now have two stories...Her parents went with her when it occurred. Her fiance went with her three years later.

I'm betting in a separate interview she said: "Please don't tell my parents this but they're really my friends"...and the same cra* with the fiance story...."Please don't tell him...".

This chick is probably quite well known with the cops....I mean reallly, really well known...and with the judges...and the DA. She's a schemer, scammer.

I'll bet she's getting all kinds of government income...and reporting no real income.

[Locomotive Breath]

I've e-mailed the N&O article to every Duke alum for whom I have an address. You should do so too.

[maggief]

Your theory was suggested by one or more freepers up thread. The cousin/family member's accounts varies from mom and the ex. (Sadly, I don't think dad has a clue.)

It makes no sense why three years later she would report a gang rape, vendetta maybe. Later that fall she enlisted in the Navy and somewhere within that time frame married her ex. What role does he play in all of this?

I read that the family was upset when the AV married McNeill. It's been reported they were married two months and divorce in a year, but on Rita he says 4-5 years. Oh yeah, and they're still friends.

There's more there, IMO.

[Publius22]

That's a lot of alleged raping going on in your scenario.

But, somehow it makes sense.

[snarkytart]

The family member does not know why charges weren’t pursued, but recalls that the accuser's boyfriend's mother begged the accuser to drop the matter, saying her son was already in trouble with the law and she did not want him to go to jail.

_________

So now the story is, Mangum did not go forward because her boyfriend's mom begged her not to forward. I thought CM back down out of fear for life!!

I do not believe a word this family says.

This is who Nifong hitched his election wagon to, and ruined two lives!

[Jrabbit]

Maybe.....she reported a rape at 16. And 2 years later, said "oh, by the way. I was also raped at 14"....

Someone needs to ask the cousin and mom where the rape took place when she was 16......

I'm confusing myself...

[Alia]

I wrote a post today concerning yours: About how many "women will be reluctant to come forward when raped".

My disgust was palpable and I I had to go do some physical activity. Women who are assaulted and yet do NOT report it immediately, when the culprits COULD be caught are no women I care to know, ever.

Women who do not report "real" rape are those who aid and abet foul people who then go on to rape other women, young, old, infants, boys, girls: As they got away with it the "last time".

And then there are the "absurdist" victims, those who claim to be raped but only in order to win money, revenge, celebrityhood. These are disgusting abusers of other women by proxy.

Your head feels like its going to explode, and I'd like to pound some nails.

[Howlin]

Which article are you talking about?

[mystery-ak]

This family is NUTS.....I actually get a headache trying to decipher all their ramblings...

[NCjim]

Now that I have finally caught up, would you please add me to your Duke ping list? Thanks!

[snarkytart]

Maybe.....she reported a rape at 16. And 2 years later, said "oh, by the way. I was also raped at 14"....

Someone needs to ask the cousin and mom where the rape took place when she was 16......

I'm confusing myself...

_______________

You think there was another allegation somewhere in between??

It sounds as if the family is talking about the same incident, three boys-one her boyfriend, but their details are way off from one another.