Shocking Development In College Student's False Rape Case: Report

FAIRFIELD, CT — Nikki Yovino, the former Sacred Heart University student accused of falsely reporting that she was raped by two former football players at the school, testified this week that she never told police that she was sexually assaulted, according to the Connecticut Post. The latest development in the case comes about two months after Yovino’s attorney told a Superior Court judge in a pretrial hearing that she would claim that she was in fact sexually assaulted. Yovino, now 20, of Long Island, was arrested in February 2017 after Bridgeport Police say she recanted her original story, which alleged that the two men raped her in a basement bathroom at a house party on Lakeside Drive in Bridgeport on Oct. 14, 2016.

Yovino's lawyer told a Superior Court judge in a pretrial hearing in March that she had a "reasonable belief that she was speaking the truth" about what she told police in her initial report, the Fairfield Citizen previously reported. Yovino, who was 18 at the time of the incident, has been charged with second-degree filing a false report and tampering with evidence.

Bridgeport Police said Yovino initially reported in October 2016 that she was sexually assaulted by a Sacred Heart University football player and another man who was a former student. Police said they conducted a thorough investigation and met several times with Sacred Heart administrators.

"Initial statements from witnesses and evidence recovered from the scene suggested that a sexual assault had occurred," Bridgeport Police said in a press release following the arrest. "As the investigation continued, the case detective received more information that contradicted Yovino's statements to police. This information included new witness accounts, text messages and cell phone video. Yovino was confronted with this evidence, and admitted that she, in fact, did have consensual sex with both males."

However, Yovino testified Wednesday that she never told police that she was sexually assaulted and couldn’t answer why police were investigating a sexual assault, according to the Post. She also testified that she told police that something happened with the two men in the bathroom that she didn’t want to happen, the Post reports.

Yovino has twice rejected a plea deal in the case, most recently in January, and was denied a pretrial probation program by a Superior Court judge last October that could have led to a dismissal of the charge. She faces up to six years in prison if convicted and has rejected plea deals of two years in prison (by prosecutors) and one year in prison (by a judge), according to the Connecticut Post.

Read more about Wednesday’s court hearing, including details on a 45-minute recorded police interview with Yovino, at the Connecticut Post here.

Photo via the Bridgeport Police Department

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