Torture Victim Recants Story, but Cops Believe It's Still True

Prosecutors are used to doubting convicted felons who recant their confessions, but it's rare for them to ignore the victim of a crime who says she made up the entire story that sent six people to prison.



Brian Abraham, the former Logan County prosecutor who oversaw those cases, dismissed the news conference as a publicity stunt.



Authorities say, despite Megan Williams' new denial, there is overwhelming evidence that she was indeed held captive in the rural West Virginia shed where she originally said she was raped and tortured over the course of several days.

Williams' story made national headlines in 2007, when investigators said the young woman had been beaten, stabbed in the legs, raped and forced to drink urine and eat animal feces. Williams is black; all of her alleged attackers were white.

Seven people, including Williams' then-boyfriend, Bobby Brewster, all confessed to their crimes and pleaded guilty. All but one was sentenced to jail.