Woman in lacrosse case: I was raped

DURHAM, N.C., Oct. 23 (UPI) -- A former exotic dancer maintained Thursday that she was sexually assaulted by Duke lacrosse players when she danced at a team party in North Carolina.

Crystal Gail Mangum held a news conference to promote her book, "The Last Dance for Grace: The Crystal Mangum Story," The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer reported. She refused to comment on the details of the legal case.

"There's no point in going into that, because the trial will never happen," she said. "So what's the point? I just don't see the point."

After Mangum said she was raped in 2006, three players were indicted. The case became a national scandal, first because of the students' alleged behavior and then because the case against them appeared increasingly shaky. The North Carolina attorney general cleared them last year.

The scandal led to the dismissal of Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong, who was also disbarred and spent a day in jail for criminal contempt.

The book was co-written and published by Vincent Clark, a former columnist for the Chapel Hill News.

While Mangum says she has "moved on" and is no longer a troubled young woman with drug and alcohol problems, she said she wants to "take one more stand and fight."

"I want to assert, without equivocation, that I was assaulted," she said. "Make of that what you will."