Crystal’s family is supposed to be on Inside Edition tonight, according to a post over on LS.
http://www.insideedition.com/ourstories/inside_stories/story.aspx?storyid=724
Cousin of Duke Accuser Speaks Out
ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 4/12/2007
Jackie, the cousin of the accuser in the Duke lacrosse case, said her cousin is “devastated.”
In an exclusive interview with INSIDE EDITION, the cousin of the accuser of the three Duke lacrosse players spoke out after all the charges in the case have been dropped.
Jackie, who asked us to only use her first name, is the cousin of Crystal Gail Mangum, the exotic dancer who told police she was raped by Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and David Evans at a team party last March.
The North Carolina Attorney General announced Wednesday that the players are innocent, and that Mangum told inconsistent stories about the incident. The Attorney General also said that Mangum “may actually believe the many different stories she has been telling.”
According to Jackie, Mangum is “devastated” that her name is now public, and said now she can’t go anywhere without being talked about. “The boys say their families have been affected by this, but so has my family,” Jackie said. “So has [Mangum’s] children.”
Asked if she feels sorry for the parents of the lacrosse players, Jackie said, “My heart goes out to anyone who has gone through this.”
But Jackie says Mangum isn’t unstable. “Someone with mental problems couldn’t have gotten through the kind of scrutiny she went through,” she said.
News organizations originally withheld Mangum’s photo and identity because she was making sexual assault charges. But Fox News changed course just minutes after those charges were dropped, and other news organizations soon followed.
Jackie says Mangum is has been unfairly treated by the media. She said Mangum has been going to school and just gave birth to her third child this past January.
Were they?