CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (TheBlaze/AP) — Three friends of an alleged victim of a gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity told The Associated Press that a magazine article about the attack was wrong on a number of key points.
Most important, the friends say they encouraged the victim, identified as "Jackie" in a Rolling Stone magazine article, to report the attack to police. That's in contrast with the magazine story, which claimed the three encouraged her to preserve her reputation by keeping it quiet.
Identified as "Randall," ''Cindy," and "Andy" in the story, the friends are third-year students Ryan Duffin, Kathryn Hendley, and Alex Stock. All three are 20 years old.
Other news media have interviewed the friends, but this is the first time they have agreed to use their full names.
"Do I think she was raped?" Stock said on camera, the AP reported. "Maybe."
Rolling Stone had apologized to readers about the story, then altered the apology, removing text that made it seem as though the magazine was blaming the alleged victim for its heavily criticized report.
Dave Urbanski
Sr. Editor, News
