Reade Seligmann’s name was in the spotlight due to a false rape accusation from a stripper in 2006.
The Essex Fells youngster who was falsely charged in the notorious Duke lacrosse rape case has been replaced by a confident young man who is already working to change the legal system. Continue reading to find out what actually happened to Reade.
Who Is Reade Seligmann From Duke Lacrosse Scandal?
Reade was one of three Duke University lacrosse players accused of racially charged rape that was later proven false.
After Seligmann was charged with kidnapping, rape, and sexual offense, the school suspended him. Duke also fired the team’s coach and postponed the rest of the season.
Currently, he is known as a senior associate in Alston & Bird’s New York office and a member of the Litigation & Trial Practice Group. He specializes in general commercial litigation.
Reade earned his J.D. in 2013 from Emory University School of Law, where he received the Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence in Media Law as well as the G. Conley Ingram Scholarship.
Furthermore, he graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in history and public policy and was awarded the Frederick Lippitt Prize for Public Service.
Reade Seligmann: Falsely Accused Victim Of Crystal Magnum
He was the topic of a highly reported 2006 criminal case in Durham, North Carolina, where three members of the Duke University men’s lacrosse team were falsely accused of rape. Two of his friends were David Evans and Collin Finnerty.
Crystal Mangum was the accuser, a North Carolina Central University student who worked as a stripper and dancer. She was hired to work as a stripper at a Duke Blue Devils lacrosse team event in March 2006.
The act was allegedly committed on March 13, 2006, at a party hosted by the lacrosse team at the Durham home of two of the team’s captains.
The resolution of the case sparked public debate on campus about racism, sexual violence, media bias, and due process. Later, it ultimately led to the resignation, disbarment, and brief imprisonment of the lead prosecutor, Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong.
Afterward, on April 11, 2007, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper dropped all charges against the three lacrosse players, declaring them innocent and victims of a tragic rush to accuse.
Following the case, after 1 year, Seligmann and his teammates were exonerated, but the false identification that linked those heinous crimes to his name also changed the course of his life.
Where Is Reade Seligmann Now?
Seligmann is now studying law at Emory University in Atlanta and he now owes nearly $6.5 million in federal taxes.
He lost his team, his school, and — he thought — his dreams in the “tragic rush to accuse,” as the North Carolina attorney general later described it. But the moment that could have broken him strengthened him.
Moreover, the Essex Fells youngster began working with the Innocence Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals and reforming the legal system. He spent a portion of his senior year at Brown organizing a witness identification symposium in Rhode Island.
He has also raised nearly $50,000 for the cause, earning him a major humanitarian award from the Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association.