Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Duke Accuser First Claimed 20 Attackers
The 27-year-old stripper whose claim that she was raped by three members of the Duke University lacrosse team has became a national controversy, first told police that more than 20 members of the team participated in the sexual assault.
According to a report released Monday by university officials, police informed the school that the accuser "kept changing her story and was not credible."
The woman initially told police she was raped and sexually assaulted by about 20 white members of a Duke team, the school's report says, according to he Knight Ridder news service.
"[The discrepancy was] the main fact that explains why we dealt with this as we did," Duke University President Richard Brodhead told reporters on Monday. "All of us wish we had gotten onto the story earlier."
Only later did the Duke accuser revise her account, saying she was attacked by just three lacrosse players in the bathroom of a house rented by the team.
Kerry Sutton, an attorney for a player who has not been charged in the incident, seized on the accuser's 20-attacker claim, telling Knight Ridder that her shifting story shows that "these players didn't do anything and the woman is not credible."
Two team members have been indicted on first degree rape charges, with Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong reportedly eyeing a third for possible prosecution.
The 27-year-old stripper whose claim that she was raped by three members of the Duke University lacrosse team has became a national controversy, first told police that more than 20 members of the team participated in the sexual assault.
According to a report released Monday by university officials, police informed the school that the accuser "kept changing her story and was not credible."
The woman initially told police she was raped and sexually assaulted by about 20 white members of a Duke team, the school's report says, according to he Knight Ridder news service.
"[The discrepancy was] the main fact that explains why we dealt with this as we did," Duke University President Richard Brodhead told reporters on Monday. "All of us wish we had gotten onto the story earlier."
Only later did the Duke accuser revise her account, saying she was attacked by just three lacrosse players in the bathroom of a house rented by the team.
Kerry Sutton, an attorney for a player who has not been charged in the incident, seized on the accuser's 20-attacker claim, telling Knight Ridder that her shifting story shows that "these players didn't do anything and the woman is not credible."
Two team members have been indicted on first degree rape charges, with Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong reportedly eyeing a third for possible prosecution.
