An 18-year-old New York woman has been charged with two criminal counts after allegedly making false rape accusations that led to two men leaving Sacred Heart University.
Nikki Yovino, in an attempt to get empathy from a guy she liked, reportedly made up a rape hoax against two Sacred Heart football players she had sex with last October.
She was charged on Wednesday with “second-degree false reporting of an incident and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence,” CTPost reports.
Yovino claimed she was forced into a bathroom where the two men, whose names are not being released, took turns assaulting her. The men admitted that sex occurred, but maintained it was consensual.
After Yovino reported the rape, the two men agreed to leave school after they would have to face a disciplinary board.
Yovino was questioned by a detective and ended up telling him that the claims were not true. The detective then filed an affidavit, which stated in part, “(s)he admitted that she made up the allegation of sexual assault against (the football players) because it was the first thing that came to mind and she didn’t want to lose (another male student) as a friend and potential boyfriend.”
“She stated that she believed when (the other male student) heard the allegation, it would make him angry and sympathetic to her,” the affidavit also stated.
Yovino is due in court in March.
One of the men has now been readmitted to Sacred Heart.
This story has been updated.