Duke athletes in rape inquiry

last updated 8 January 2015

Durham, N.C.

In a case generating racial tensions on campus and in the surrounding community, a black woman claimed last week that she had been gang-raped by three members of Duke’s lacrosse team. In an affidavit filed with police, the woman, a student from nearby North Carolina Central University, said she had been hired as an exotic dancer for a team party. According to her affidavit, she was sexually assaulted and beaten by three players, who taunted her with racist names. Prosecutors obtained a court order compelling the 46 white members of the 47-man team to provide DNA samples. A lawyer for one of the accused men said “the real story” is how the district attorney, who is up for re-election, “has pandered to the public to stir up race and class divisions.”