Posted June 9, 2006 – The second exotic dancer at the Duke University lacrosse team party told police early in the investigation that she had been with the alleged victim most of the night and that the rape charges were a "crock," according to court papers filed Thursday.
The statement by Kim Roberts is cited in a filing by lawyers for Reade Seligmann, 20, one of three team members charged with rape in the case.
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The accuser, a 27-year-old North Carolina Central University student, has told police she was dragged into a bathroom and raped, beaten and choked for a half-hour.
But according to a March 20 statement written by Durham Police Investigator Benjamin Himan, which is attached to the Seligmann filing, Roberts "stated that she heard that [the accuser] was sexually assaulted, which she stated is a 'crock' and she stated that she was with her the whole time until she left."
The defense lawyers argue that prosecutors omitted that statement when they got court permission in March to obtain photographs and DNA samples from team members.
In an April interview with The Associated Press, Roberts said she initially doubted the story but had changed her mind.
"I was not in the bathroom when it happened, so I can't say a rape occurred - and I never will," Roberts said. But she added, "In all honesty, I think they're guilty."
Both women had been hired to perform at the party as strippers.
Defense attorneys have said they believe Roberts changed her story to gain favorable treatment in a separate criminal case. She was arrested March 22 on a probation violation stemming from a 2001 conviction for embezzling $25,000 from a Durham employer.
Seligmann, of Essex Falls, N.J., and two other players – Dave Evans, 23, of Bethesda, Md., and Collin Finnerty, 19, of Garden City, N.Y. – have been charged with first-degree rape, sexual offense and kidnapping in the case.
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