RALEIGH, N.C. – The judge in the Duke University lacrosse sexual assault case on Wednesday ordered a paternity test for the newborn baby of the accuser, FOX News has confirmed.
The woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by three white lacrosse players at an off-campus party last March apparently gave birth to the child. Local news outlets reported earlier this month that the accuser had given birth, but there was no confirmation from her family at the time.
Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III late last year ordered a paternity test for the child when it was born. The order he filed Wednesday seemed to confirm that the accuser did in fact give birth.
In December, numerous family members, as well as Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong, confirmed that she was pregnant. But Nifong said because she wasn't due to give birth until February, the baby could not have been conceived at the time of the alleged rape.
In December, rape charges were dropped against three men indicted in the case — 23-year-old David Evans, 20-year-old Collin Finnerty and 20-year-old Reade Seligmann — when the accuser said she could no longer be sure she was actually raped. The three lacrosse players still face kidnapping and sexual offense charges but Nifong is under heavy pressure to drop the case altogether.
The lacrosse players all say they're innocent — as are all the lacrosse players, they say — and that the accusations were fabricated.
In another order, Smith directed that transcripts of a closed hearing be provided to the lawyers in the case, the News & Observer reported. In that closed hearing in December, the lawyers and the judge discussed sealed records.
The case is next scheduled for a court hearing in February.
FOX News' Reid Plyler contributed to this report.
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