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.

[mystery-ak]

I agree. There must be some showing that the prior accusation was also false.


What if there isn't.....suppose the charges were dropped because she refused to testify or press charges....what then?

[toldyou]

"He's going to get trounced on Tuesday."

Wish we could vote!

[Publius22]

Say that they did: What fears, exactly, kept her from reporting the case?

According to the AP report she did report the case.

"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."

[investigateworld]

(Word on the street was he and his little top hatted friend were thinking about checking into the 'Old Kaczynski place')

[Publius22]

Oh, did you mean originally reporting the case?

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

She is listed as living in Creedmoor in 2002!

[I want to know]

Here's just a tad more concerning the past rape allegation. Take note at what the father says.

Duke Lacrosse Accuser Had Made Similar Report

[Alia]

You are right! That was reported. Thank you for highlighting this for me.

My head has been hurting JUST trying to keep up with all the changing "storylines" from the AV, her defense, her family members, etc.

The father alleging the "broom" incident this morning, made my eyes burn. I remember from the get-go, he had a whole other story. That she was fine. But to store her car.

[Sacajaweau]

I'd vote FOR him just to have the pleasure of booting his butt out the door when the hammer finally falls on this case.

[Howlin]

November of 1987.

[I want to know]

Sorry. Meant to include this in the post.

Contacted by phone Thursday, the accuser's father said his daughter made the report to police after she was held against her will by a group of men who had picked her up from school and driven her to Creedmoor.

The man said he became concerned when his daughter, who was living in Durham at the time, did not return from school. The girl was located in a house in Creedmoor, her father said. She was not sexually assaulted or injured in the incident, he said.

"They didn't do anything to her," he said.

[Howlin]

I despise gratuitous capitalization.

[JLS]

Exactly, I just ventured into my first thread on this a while back and howling is who knew the DA had given those 70ish comments on the case. She has helped get all of us late comers up to speed or at least those of us with open minds.

[F.J. Mitchell]

With this family, the facts never add up, do they?"

Kind of puts one in mind of that old adage "figures don't lie, but liars figure" doesn't it? (or in this case maybe figure should read "scheme".

[snarkytart]

Oh boy, her dad now remembers?

Well, there is the false allegation. She waited three years to file a rape report even though she was not raped?

[Sacajaweau]

Our police chief is ALWAYS the first to the Mike. When it was a race case, the Mayor was next. But then, that's Rochester, NY....my old hometown.

And we had a false accuser here, too and guess who showed up to defend her? Same story, different town.

[toldyou]

How would you like Ted Williams to defend you? He's an idiot. He runs off his mouth night after night, and it shows that he has not researched anything. He's almost clueless. On the other hand, Geoffrey Fieger called this from day one. I REALLY like him.

[Jrabbit]

CNN on the case....Lisa Bloom and Jami Floyd

[mystery-ak]

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Published: Apr 27, 2006 07:51 PM
Modified: Apr 27, 2006 09:27 PM

Duke lacrosse accuser had made similar report
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By Samiha Khanna, Staff writer
The woman who says she was raped by three members of the Duke University lacrosse team may have made a similar rape claim 10 years ago in the neighboring town of Creedmoor, authorities confirmed Thursday.

The woman made the report on Aug. 18, 1996, when she was 18. She told police she was 14 when three men attacked her in Creedmoor, said Police Chief Ted Pollard.

From the archived paper records that he checked Thursday, Pollard said it didn't appear that there were any arrests.

Pollard confirmed the name and birth date of the woman who made the report matches the woman who is now at the center of the rape investigation at Duke. Police last week charged two lacrosse players, Collin Finnerty, 19, and Reade Seligmann, 20, with rape and kidnapping on the woman's accusations.

Contacted by phone Thursday, the accuser's father said his daughter made the report to police after she was held against her will by a group of men who had picked her up from school and driven her to Creedmoor.

The man said he became concerned when his daughter, who was living in Durham at the time, did not return from school. The girl was located in a house in Creedmoor, her father said. She was not sexually assaulted or injured in the incident, he said.

"They didn't do anything to her," he said.
A






I am more confused than ever....I thought the mother said they did not tell the father........I'm going to bed...