Nikki Yovino claims she never stated that she was raped — only that something happened that she didn’t want to happen.. (AP Photo)
The woman who confessed to lying about being raped by two Black college football players is now accusing authorities of lying on her.
During her testimony Wednesday, 19-year-old Nikki Yovino insisted she never told police she was sexually assaulted. Yovinno previously claimed she was raped by two Sacred Heart University football players during an off-campus party in October 2016, but later confessed to making the entire thing up, the CT Post reported.
“So, you never told law enforcement you were sexually assaulted,” a stunned Assistant State’s Attorney Emily Trudeau asked Yovino.
“No, I never said I was sexually assaulted,” Yovino replied.
“Well then, why were they (the police) investigating a sexual assault?” Trudeau inquired.
“I don’t know,” said Yovino, shrugging her shoulders. “ … I never told [detectives] I was sexually assaulted. I told them that something happened in the bathroom at the party with these two guys, that I didn’t want to happen.”
The young woman’s claims are a complete about-face from what Bridgeport authorities said she told them earlier this year after undergoing a rape testing kit. Police Detective Walberto Cotto Jr. said Yovino claimed the two young men raped her in a bathroom during the party. After discovering inconsistencies in her story, however, Cotto said he and another detective visited Yovino’s home two months later to question her further.
It wasn’t long before she broke down and admitted to making the allegations up, he said.
On a 45-minute recording played in court, the young woman is heard corroborating her original story, saying the men grabbed then dragged her into the bathroom. Cotto then throws her for a loop and tells her that one of the men had recorded the incident.
“Were you forced to do anything in there? Be honest with me,” the detective says.
“No, I was scared, it never happened,” Yovino answers, admitting she went into the bathroom with the intent to have sex.
Yovino, who has since moved to Long Island, NY to work in real estate, is facing charges of second-degree for falsely reporting an incident and tampering with physical evidence, the CT Post reported. If convicted, the former Sacred Heart student could face up to six years behind bars.
