Woman who falsely accused Duke Lacrosse Team of rape, back in jail

On Thursday, Crystal Gail Mangum landed back in the Durham County Jail for violating a release agreement stemming from an arrest earlier this year.

In February, Mangum was arrested for the assault and attempted murder of her boyfriend, Milton Walker, 33, among other charges.

According to police, Mangum set his clothes on fire, physically assaulted him, attempted to stab him, all in view of her three children, ages 3, 9 and 10. The 911 call was actually placed by one the children.

She initially gave the responding officers a false name, "Marella Mangum," and allegedly fought with the officers.

Mangum was charged with attempted first-degree murder, five counts of arson, assault and battery, communicating threats, three counts of misdemeanor child abuse, injury to personal property, identity theft and resisting a public officer.

While Mangum became famous for the false allegations she made against the Duke Lacrosse Team, she has a history of criminal behavior, and making allegations of rape.

In 1996, two months after her graduation from Hillside High School in Durham, N.C., Mangum went to the police and claimed that she had been raped three years earlier and identified her attackers as her boyfriend and two of his friends. In 2006, CNN reported that the police interviewed Mangum and asked her "to write a chronological-order statement for investigative purposes."

She originally told police that her three alleged attackers had held her against her will, raped her, and threatened her life. However, she failed to follow up with police after the initial interview and simply dropped the charges.

Late in 1996, Mangum joined the U.S. Navy, signing on for an eight year enlistment. She began active duty in 1997. Though committed for eight years, the Navy discharged her in 1998.

In 1997 at age 19, she met and married a 33 year old illiterate man named Kenneth Nathaniel McNeill. Under Navy orders, her and her new husband moved to California, where she was assigned to the USS Mount Hood. While aboard the Mount Hood, she began a sexual affair with another sailor. She became pregnant as a result of the affair and eventually had another child with the sailor.

The U.S. Navy has refused to disclose the reason for Mangum's abrupt discharge.

Because of the extra-marital affair, Mangum and Kenneth McNeill became separated. On June 16, 1998, she filed charges against McNeill in which she claimed that he had taken her into the woods and threatened to kill her. A hearing on the matter was held on June 23, Mangum failed to appear in court to prove the charges and the complaint was dismissed.

After a string of low-wage jobs, Mangum decided to enter the world of stripping. She showed up one evening in 2002 at the Diamond Girls strip club in Durham. Club owner Larry Jones said that she was looking for a job and auditioned by giving lap dances to several men.

Jones decided not to hire Mangum because she was "acting funny."

One of the men she entertained with a lap dance was a taxi driver. According to a Durham County Sheriff's report: "As she was feeling him up and putting her hands in his pockets she removed the keys to his taxi cab, without him knowing. He [the cabbie] told her he would drive her home but needed to go to the restroom first. While in the restroom he was advised that she was driving off in his taxi cab."

Durham County Deputies went looking for Mangum and when they tried to stop her, she sped away driving the wrong way on U.S. Highway 70. They quickly caught up with her in a wooded area, as deputies approached the vehicle she aimed the car at one of them and attempted to run him over. She was finally apprehended after hitting one of the sheriff's cars. Mangum passed out while being questioned by deputies and was transported to Duke University Medical Center. Her blood alcohol level was .19 (more than twice the N.C. legal limit).

That incident resulted in Mangum's conviction on the following charges: -larceny -speeding to elude arrest -assault on a government official -DUI

She received a sentence of three consecutive weekends in the Durham County Jail and two years probation.

Eventually, Mangum landed a job as a stripper at a club known as Platinum Pleasures. She was also working for an escort service called Bunny Hole Entertainment. After the Duke rape allegations, she told a reporter with The News and Observer that she went on dates with clients (johns) about three times a week.

While no DNA of any Duke Lacrosse player was found on Mangum, the DNA of her boyfriend and habitual DUI offender Matthew Murchison was found. She also told police that she had engaged in sexual intercourse with two other men close to the time she erroneously reported the rape. The other two men were Jarriel Johnson of Raleigh, and Brian Taylor of Durham. They both worked as drivers for the escort service, taking her to parties and 'dates.'

Mangum had the benefit of a rather unscrupulous district attorney in Mike Nifong, who apparently took her lies and ran with them. Nifong was in the midst of a re-election campaign at the time she made her false allegations and used the case in an attempt to persuade the black community to support his campaign.

The case brought national attention to Nifong and stirred-up racial tensions in the Raliegh-Durham area. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton both joined in the public persecution of the Duke students, even the Black Panthers came to town looking for trouble.

Eventually, the truth prevailed, charges against the students were dropped, and Nifong was discredited and forced to step down. He was ultimately disbarred for his actions in the case and spent one night in jail for lying to a Superior Court judge.

Unfortunately, due to Mangum's false allegations of rape, innocent women will suffer, as sexual assaults continue to be the most under-reported crimes. Victims already feel humiliated and are often hesitant to risk further character attacks from criminal defense attorneys, and often decide not to report the heinous crime. Undoubtedly, Mangum's selfish actions have made the very painful process of coming forward to prosecute attackers even more difficult.

 

Powered By iWebRSS.comsee justice served immigration news