Sports
Crystal Mangum confesses to lying about being raped by Duke lacrosse players in 2006
Former stripper and current murder convict Crystal Mangum confessed to lying about being raped by Duke Lacrosse players in an interview on the independent media outlet “Let’s Talk With Kat” on Thursday.
“I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn’t and that was wrong, and I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me,” Mangum said. “[I] made up a story that wasn’t true because I wanted validation from people and not from God.”
Mangum, who is serving a prison sentence for murdering her boyfriend, falsely accused three Duke players of raping her while she was performing at a team party in March 2006. The players she accused were arrested, igniting a national controversy and conversations about racism.
Pictured in this file photo from August 2010, Crystal Mangum, who was at the center of the Duke University lacrosse scandal, was charged with stabbing a man on April 3, 2011, at a Durham, N.C., apartment. (Chuck Liddy/Raleigh News Observer/MCT)
The three players, David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann, were all found not guilty of the crimes. But Mangum was not prosecuted for perjury due to questions about her mental health.
“She may have actually believed the many different stories that she has been telling,” said former North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said at the time.
Mangum can not be prosecuted for perjury now because statute of limitations on perjury charges in North Carolina only lasts around two years.
The allegations even resulted in the team having to cancel a game against Georgetown in March 2008.
Former Durham County district attorney Mike Nifong, who served as the lead prosecutor in the case, said in a March 2006 interview with CBS News that “there’s no doubt a sexual assault took place” and that it was “racially motivated.”
CRYSTAL GAIL MANGUM: PROFILE OF THE DUKE RAPE ACCUSER
Crystal Mangum (Chuck Liddy/Raleigh News Observer/MCT)
“The information that I have does lead me to conclude that a rape did occur,” Nifong said. “The circumstances of thc rape indicated a deep racial motivation for some of the things that were done. It makes a crime that is by its nature one of the most offensive and invasive even more so.”
Nifong was later disbarred on June 16, 2007, by the North Carolina State Bar for lying in court and withholding DNA evidence which ultimately absolved the defendants of responsibility for Mangum’s allegations.
Mangum also asserted that “something” happened that night in a book she published in 2008 titled “Last Dance for Grace: The Crystal Mangum Story.”
“I will never say that nothing at all happened that night,” she wrote.
Mangum was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder and two counts of larceny in March 2011. A year before that, she was convicted on misdemeanor charges after setting a fire that nearly torched her home with her three children inside. In a videotaped police interrogation, she told officers she got into a confrontation with her boyfriend at the time, not Daye, and burned his clothes, smashed his car windshield and threatened to stab him.
According to North Carolina Department of Corrections records, she was born on July 18, 1978, to a truck driver. She grew up the youngest of three children, not far from the house where she claimed she was assaulted in 2006.
In 1993, when she was 14 years old, Mangum claimed to have been kidnapped by three men, driven to a house in Creedmoor, N.C., 15 miles away from Durham, and raped. She said one of the men was her boyfriend at the time and was a physically and emotionally abusive man seven years older than she was.
Pictured in this file photo from August 2010, Crystal Mangum, who was at the center of the Duke University lacrosse scandal, was charged with stabbing a man early Sunday, April 3, 2011, at a Durham, North Carolina apartment. (Chuck Liddy/Raleigh News & Observer/MCT)
Creedmoor Police Chief Ted Pollard said Mangum filed a report on the incident on Aug. 18, 1996, three years after the rapes allegedly took place. The case, however, was not pursued, because the accuser backed away from the charges out of fear for her life, according to her relatives.
Vincent Clark, a friend who co-authored Mangum’s self-published memoir, said he hopes people don’t rush to judgment — echoing one of the oft-cited lessons of the lacrosse case itself.
Clark said Mangum realizes she has mental health problems.
“I’m sad for her. I hope people realize how difficult it is being her,” Clark said.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Ask anyone who is favored to win Young Player of the Tournament for the upcoming 2026 World Cup, and presumably, you would struggle to hear a name other than Lamine Yamal.
The Spanish sensation, at only 18, is already viewed as one of the game’s greatest players — and he hasn’t even come close to his prime.
With that, let’s check out the odds for who will win Young Player of the Tournament as of July 12.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
Young Player of the Tournament odds
Lamine Yamal: +130 (bet $10 to win $23 total)
Desire Doue: +280 (bet $10 to win $38 total)
Pau Cubarsí: +380 (bet $10 to win $48 total)
Nico O’Reilly: +850 (bet $10 to win $95 total)
Here’s what to know about this oddsboard:
The Race: Lamine Yamal has been the favorite since before the tournament began and has not moved from the top of the oddsboard. Statistically, Yamal has only one goal and no assists in this World Cup, but his presence on the field has clearly opened up things for Spain on numerous occasions en route to its semifinal berth. Doue has a goal and an assist in three starts for France.
It was never actually in doubt. Dearica Hamby was going to stay a member of the Sparks. That was just how she worked.
Even when Nneka Ogwumike came into the fold and the frontcourt became crowded, Hamby didn’t doubt her decision to return to the organization that traded for her four years ago.
Loyalty mattered more than anything else.
“That’s who I am,” she said. “I don’t run away from things. I wanted to stay here and help L.A. get back to where it was and is capable of being.”
In a loaded frontcourt, the 32-year-old Hamby has still found ways to shine. Hamby has led the Sparks in scoring four times and led or tied for rebounding 16 times this season after signing a three-year, $3.5-million contract.
She ranks in the top 20 in the league in rebounds and field-goal percentage (plus 25th in scoring) and is eighth in offensive rebounds in establishing herself as an essential piece to the Sparks’ “win now” attempt.
“I think it’s the challenge, because we are so good and we have so much talent,” said Hamby, who is averaging 14.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 52.8% from the field. “You’re forced to produce, but it’s also a blessing. I know it’s probably hard for coach to manage the three’s playing time and stuff like that, but it’s a beautiful problem.”
Hamby was in the headlines when the Aces traded her after she was pregnant. In September of that year, she filed a federal discrimination complaint against the team and league, claiming she was traded because she was pregnant. The two sides resolved matters before trial.
The new CBA this year created a new rule that requires a pregnant player’s consent to be traded.
“I feel like she’s such an anomaly,” said forward Rae Burrell. “I remember when she had her son, and it was crazy because everybody was saying she was coming back so early, I thought that was insane, but now being her teammate, I see it, she’s just kind of a freak of nature, like she’s so athletic, she can do all types of things on the court that you think looks unorthodox, but she makes it happen, but also just love being her teammate. She’s just good people.”
Since that trade, she has been a regular in the Sparks’ starting lineup while averaging double-digit scoring and around eight rebounds per game. She’s one of the most efficient scorers in the league, too.
But Hamby’s games have been all over the board. Against the Aces, she missed all seven of her shots. Against Dallas and Indiana, she made six of eight shots. She’s had eight games with a shooting percentage above 60% and four games under 40%.
Sparks forward Dearica Hamby, left, tries to steal the ball from Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner during a game in Phoenix.
(Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
Having the three frontcourt players has been an adjustment for coach Lynne Roberts to find how to implement them all in the offense.
“I’m trying to implement the new offense, we’re plugging pieces into play, and things that I may have been able to do last year as freely I’m not as able to do this year,” Hamby said. “So just adjusting for sure, but I think that’s across the board for everybody.”
Before the season, Roberts said that Cameron Brink would come off the bench and Hamby would start. Brink, the only natural center on the team, averages just 17.5 minutes per game primarily because of her 3.7 fouls.
“She’s my vet,” Brink said of Hamby. “I think she’s just such a grounding force for us, and she’s someone that does everything, so I just really feel like I learn from her every day, and I’m just very thankful to be in her presence.”
Hamby averages 3.2 fouls per game and has expressed frustration about the new officiating norms this season, but has avoided true foul trouble. She and Ogwumike work as two fours instead of a team with a traditional five.
“She has a lot of energy,” Ogwumike said. “I think she does a really good job of just having a high motor and going out there and kind of like doing the dirty work. I feel like it’s beneficial to have a loaded frontcourt, to be able to have so many different types of players and a depth where anytime one of us is in, there’s no letdown.”
The Sparks have been the worst defensive team in the league this season and struggled to score when point guard Kelsey Plum was out of the lineup with an ankle injury. Ogwumike might be the other veteran leader, but Hamby has stayed with this Sparks team the past two seasons while Ogwumike was in Seattle.
Now her role has changed, even with that loyalty. She’s playing just over a minute less and they’re asking for better defense and efficiency.
Hamby chose to come back. Now she’s choosing to help build the Sparks up.
“I know my usage is a lot lower,” Hamby said. “A goal of mine the last two seasons was to have those numbers, so to have the same numbers just at a more efficient rate, and so I mean offensively, but with like two fewer shots a game, that’s pretty impressive.”
Sports
Conor McGregor’s long-awaited Octagon return cut short by apparent knee injury seconds into UFC 329
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Nearly five years after his last walk to the Octagon, Conor McGregor made his long-awaited UFC return Saturday night against fellow MMA star Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 329 in Las Vegas.
McGregor opened aggressively, attempting a running kick before throwing a head kick moments later. He appeared to slip on both tries. Holloway quickly capitalized after the second, taking top position and landing a right hand before McGregor was able to work his way back to his feet.
Moments later, McGregor hit the canvas again after trying to throw a kick with his right leg, which appeared to buckle underneath him.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Conor McGregor of Ireland participates in the walkout before facing Max Holloway of the United States in their welterweight bout during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. (Ian Maule/Getty Images)
The official inside the Octagon waved off the fight moments later, giving Holloway a TKO victory.
During the broadcast, UFC CEO Dana White pointed to a first-round replay that appeared to show the moment McGregor suffered the injury. The apparent injury was not to the same leg McGregor broke during his 2021 fight against Dustin Poirier, which led to a lengthy absence from the Octagon.
The loss extended McGregor’s long winless drought, with his last UFC victory coming by first-round TKO against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in January 2020.
JAKE PAUL’S BUSINESS PARTNER GIVES TIMELINE ON RETURN TO RING AFTER CAREER-THREATENING INJURY
McGregor earned a unanimous decision over Holloway in a featherweight clash in 2013, when neither was an MMA megastar. In the blink of an eye, McGregor’s star rose.
Conor McGregor and Max Holloway face off during the UFC 329 ceremonial weigh-in at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 10, 2026. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
On Wednesday, he admitted he got caught up in his own stardom after winning UFC belts in two weight classes and becoming one of the biggest names in combat sports.
“I launched an Irish whiskey,” McGregor said. “I didn’t drink heavily, if at all, at that time of my life. I was an athlete at the top of my game. Next thing you know, thousands upon thousands of bottles (are) in my garage.
RONDA ROUSEY REVEALS WHAT INSPIRED HER TO END NINE-YEAR MMA HIATUS FOR ONE FINAL FIGHT
“‘Sell this, Conor.’ OK, I’d leave my property with two bottles under my arm, and that was it. I was caught. And I wasn’t used to it. And that’s it. God gave me these lessons. That’s it. I was trapped and caught, and it is what it is.”
Conor McGregor jumps into the air for a kick as he fights Max Holloway in a welterweight bout at UFC 329 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (John Locher/AP)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Easier said than done, perhaps, as the controversial former champion has been embroiled in multiple controversies and legal issues over the past several years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
-
World4 minutes agoNew Germany sex-crime figures reignite migration fight as exploitation probe expands
-
Politics11 minutes agoGraham’s death ignites GOP scramble for Senate seat as Trump hints he already has a favorite
-
Health14 minutes agoMan turns tragic loss of best friend to suicide into urgent outreach to lonely strangers
-
Sports19 minutes ago2026 World Cup Young Player of the Tournament Odds: Lamine Yamal Favored
-
Technology26 minutes agoRescue robot of tomorrow may be a cockroach in scuba suit
-
Business29 minutes agoL.A. cardrooms applaud court ruling to allow blackjack
-
Entertainment34 minutes agoDan Finnerty profaned Bonnie Tyler’s hit in ‘Old School.’ He regrets the f-bombs at her shows
-
Lifestyle41 minutes agoWelcome to the summer of hot store openings and must-see art shows in L.A.
