Replies

Oh really............Please read the following:

Eagle Teen Offered $12,500 For Kobe Bryant Story Friend Of Alleged Rape Victim Turns Down Money

POSTED: 10:15 a.m. MDT July 22, 2003 UPDATED: 10:58 a.m. MDT July 22, 2003

DENVER -- An Eagle County teenager told the Vail Daily News that she was offered $12,500 by the National Enquirer for her exclusive story in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault saga.

SURVEY Kobe Bryant maintains he is innocent of sexual assault. Whose story do you believe -- Bryant's or that of his alleged victim? I believe Bryant's story. I believe his alleged victim's story. I don't know.

Results | Disclaimer

Lindsey McKinney, 18, was quoted Sunday in a California newspaper, The Orange County Register, as saying the alleged rape victim who accused the Los Angeles Lakers guard had ingested too many pills and had to be taken to a hospital two months earlier. The interview published in the paper was quickly picked up by other media worldwide.

After the story appeared, the teen said a representative from the Enquirer came to her home offering the money for her thoughts on the matter.

McKinney told the News that she turned down the offer and regrets that the story was published at all, especially with her name attached to it, because the alleged rape victim is a friend of hers.

McKinney said the offer from the Enquirer started out at $200 and was up to $12,500 by the time the representative made his fourth trip to her home. The family turned down the offer, McKinney told the News.

Accuser's Friend Talks About Injuries

Another friend of the accuser told the Denver Post that the alleged victim suffered obvious physical injuries that are still visible three weeks later.

Luke Bray said he has helped take care of the girl in the weeks since her encounter with Bryant. He said there was no question that she had been hurt, based on her injuries.

Bray would not discuss the specific injuries because he said the woman's attorney, Rob Wheeler, advised him not to. Bray told the Post he would not discuss the specific injuries she suffered, because he was advised by the woman's attorney not to.

His comments were the first confirmation of injuries that district attorney Mark Hurlbert alluded to when he announced the charge against Bryant last week.