Woman who falsely accused two college football players of rape 'rolls her eyes' in court as victim explains how she 'destroyed his life'
Nikki Yovino clearly treated the United States justice system like it was a joke. The 19-year-old woman from Long Island claimed she was raped by two Sacred Heart University football players in 2016. Months later, she admitted to authorities that she made up the allegations because she was worried her consensual encounter with the two players would damage her relationship with another student.
Then, she went to the witness stand and said she was forced to have sex without her consent. Ultimately, the callous teenager admitted her deceit to a judge and pleaded guilty to criminal charges.
The two students remained anonymous up until now. However, on Thursday morning, one of the victims, Malik St Hilaire, decided he wanted to hold Yovino accountable for her actions and poured his heart out about how she had "destroyed his life". And shockingly, while he was reading the victim impact statement to the courtroom, Yovino was caught repeatedly smirking and rolling her eyes.
Superior Court Judge William Holden sentenced Yovino to three years, with one year in prison followed by probation. “I just hope you spend the time reflecting on what you did,” he said.
“I went from being a college student to sitting at home being expelled with no way to clear my name,” St Hilaire told the judge as Yovino smirked. “I just hope she knows what she has done to me, my life will never be the same. I did nothing wrong, but everything has been altered because of this.”
According to Law & Crime, someone standing close to Yovino during the hearing said she also groaned as St. Hilaire spoke and she showed 'no remorse'.
The second man released a statement on condition of anonymity.
“The last almost two years have been definitely my most difficult of my life,” the statement read. “The roller coaster of emotions; fear, anger, sadness, embarrassment, depression, anxiety and the list goes on. She accused me of what I believe to be a horrendous, horrific crime out of her own selfish concerns. I lost my scholarship, my dream of continuing to play football and now I am in debt $30,000 and I’m simply trying to get ahead as best as I can.”
As the case was about to go to trial, Yovino pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree falsely reporting an incident and one count of interfering with police, all misdemeanors. She has already served three months in prison and will spend three more months before being eligible for release.
“This was not an easy charging decision for the state,” Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Tatiana Messina told the judge. “But with the evidence we had against Miss Yovino, we do believe this disposition is both fair and appropriate. Many true victims of sexual assault are often disbelieved, but that is because of cases like this and the impact they have on public perceptions. Miss Yovino’s actions are a disservice to those true victims, in addition to the two young men whose lives were greatly affected, and that was not something that could have been ignored.”
Yovino's mother, who was present in the courtroom, was kicked out after her cell phone went off.
Law enforcement authorities responded to St Vincent’s Medical Center on October 15, 2016, after a sexual assault complaint. At the time, Yovino claimed that while attending a Sacred Heart football club party, two men pulled her into a bathroom in the basement of the house and raped her, taking turns as they held her down.
“I don’t want to be in here, I don’t want to do anything. My friends are waiting for me outside, let me go outside,” police said she claims she told the men.
Having said that, both men admitted to engaging in sexual intercourse with Yovino, but said it was consensual.