Duke Lacrosse Accuser Made Previous Report
By AARON BEARD, AP Sports Writer
5 hours ago
DURHAM, N.C. - A stripper who says she was raped by three Duke University lacrosse players during a party also accused three men of raping her when she was a teenager, according to a complaint filed a decade ago.
In the 1996 report, the woman claims she was raped three years earlier, at age 14. None of the men named in the report were ever charged with sexual assault, said authorities in nearby Granville County, but they didn't have details why.
Relatives told Essence magazine in an online story this week that the woman declined to pursue the case out of fear for her safety. A phone number for the accuser has been disconnected, and her father said Thursday night he remembered little about the incident except going with police to a home where he said his daughter was being held "against her will."
The existence of the earlier rape report surprised defense attorneys in the Duke case, who have sought information about the woman'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.
Finnerty and fellow Duke player Reade Seligmann are charged with first-degree rape, kidnapping and sexual assault and face a hearing May 15.
Cotter declined additional comment.
The accuser is a 27-year-old student at North Carolina Central University in Durham who told police she was hired to perform as a stripper at a March 13 party.
Seligmann's legal team earlier this week filed a motion seeking her medical, legal and education records. The lawyers also asked for a pretrial hearing to determine if she is credible.
Attorney Joe Cheshire, who represents a player on the team who has not been charged, said it was notable that authorities apparently decided not to prosecute the earlier case. Cheshire also said he would like to know whether current prosecutors knew about the allegation or if the accuser told them about it.
"These are serious allegations, particularly for a person that age. In my mind, it would raise real issues about her credibility," he said.
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. She told police she was attacked at an "unspecified location" on a street in Creedmoor, a town 15 miles northeast of Durham.
Asked Thursday if she was sexually assaulted, her father said, "I can't remember." In an interview with the News & Observer of Raleigh, posted Thursday night on the newspaper's Web site, he said the men "didn't do anything to her."
The report lists the names of the three men, but no other details. Creedmoor police Chief Ted Pollard said 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 he had a vague recollection of the report. He said he could not remember any details.
When asked about the accuser's previous rape accusation, Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong declined 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.
By AARON BEARD, AP Sports Writer
5 hours ago
DURHAM, N.C. - A stripper who says she was raped by three Duke University lacrosse players during a party also accused three men of raping her when she was a teenager, according to a complaint filed a decade ago.
In the 1996 report, the woman claims she was raped three years earlier, at age 14. None of the men named in the report were ever charged with sexual assault, said authorities in nearby Granville County, but they didn't have details why.
Relatives told Essence magazine in an online story this week that the woman declined to pursue the case out of fear for her safety. A phone number for the accuser has been disconnected, and her father said Thursday night he remembered little about the incident except going with police to a home where he said his daughter was being held "against her will."
The existence of the earlier rape report surprised defense attorneys in the Duke case, who have sought information about the woman'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.
Finnerty and fellow Duke player Reade Seligmann are charged with first-degree rape, kidnapping and sexual assault and face a hearing May 15.
Cotter declined additional comment.
The accuser is a 27-year-old student at North Carolina Central University in Durham who told police she was hired to perform as a stripper at a March 13 party.
Seligmann's legal team earlier this week filed a motion seeking her medical, legal and education records. The lawyers also asked for a pretrial hearing to determine if she is credible.
Attorney Joe Cheshire, who represents a player on the team who has not been charged, said it was notable that authorities apparently decided not to prosecute the earlier case. Cheshire also said he would like to know whether current prosecutors knew about the allegation or if the accuser told them about it.
"These are serious allegations, particularly for a person that age. In my mind, it would raise real issues about her credibility," he said.
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. She told police she was attacked at an "unspecified location" on a street in Creedmoor, a town 15 miles northeast of Durham.
Asked Thursday if she was sexually assaulted, her father said, "I can't remember." In an interview with the News & Observer of Raleigh, posted Thursday night on the newspaper's Web site, he said the men "didn't do anything to her."
The report lists the names of the three men, but no other details. Creedmoor police Chief Ted Pollard said 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 he had a vague recollection of the report. He said he could not remember any details.
When asked about the accuser's previous rape accusation, Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong declined 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.
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