It is a pretty troubling trend to see college athletes accused of serious crimes only for the accusers to come out shortly after to say that they made it up and falsely accused them.
That’s exactly what happened with VCU’s Mo Alie-Cox, as he was accused of punching a woman in the face, but the surveillance footage of the incident revealed a completely different story.
Here is what was reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
A woman admitted she falsely accused VCU forward Mo Alie-Cox of punching her in the face in an apology letter referenced in court on Tuesday before a judge dismissed the assault charge against him.
Alie-Cox had been charged with misdemeanor assault based on Morgan Ashley Kaye’s criminal complaint, but surveillance footage and Kaye’s admission counter her initial claim that Alie-Cox punched her.
“Please accept my deepest apologies for my false accusations and the subsequent defamation of your character,” Kaye wrote in a letter to Alie-Cox, a copy of which was provided to The Times-Dispatch by Alie-Cox’s defense attorney.
“It was not my intent to create this situation of embarrassment for you, Virginia Commonwealth University, the basketball team, or myself. After seeing the footage from the night, I clearly mistook your identity and have never felt guiltier about this whole situation,” Kaye’s letter states.
When things like this happen, it becomes problematic for victims who actually are telling the truth in similar incidents. Kaye wants Alie-Cox to accept her apology after she took his name and reputation on a ride through the mud, but you can’t unring the bell after something like this.
If I’m Alie-Cox I would be filing a complaint of my own for her defaming my name, and that would have happened yesterday.