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SHU Student Accused Of Making Up Rape Story Applies For Psychiatric Program

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- A former Sacred Heart student who has been charged with making up rape allegations against two other students has applied for a program that could see her charges dismissed if it is determined that she has a psychiatric disability, according to the Connecticut Post.

Nikki Yovino

Nikki Yovino

Photo Credit: Bridgeport Police Department

Nikki Yovino, 19, of South Setauket, N.Y, applied for a pretrial diversionary program, contending that she has a psychiatric disability, the Connecticut Post reported. She will need to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, and afterwards a judge will need to decide if she does suffer a psychiatric disability and is eligible for the program. If the judge decides that she is eligible, her charges will be dismissed after she completes the program.

Yovino is facing charges that she falsified rape accusations against two fellow former students. In October Bridgeport Police responded to St. Vincent's Medical Center, where Yovino said she had been raped by two other students, police said. After an investigation, it was determined that she had made up the allegations, and that she had had consensual sex with the two students, according to police.

Police said that when confronted, she admitted that she made up the story. She told police that she had done it because she did not want to lose another student as a potential boyfriend, according to police. 

Related story: SHU student charged with making up rape allegations

Before Yovino applied for the diversionary program, prosecutors had offered her a plea deal of two years in prison, according to the Connecticut Post. A state's attorney said that if she is deemed ineligible for the program, she will need to either accept or reject the plea offer, according to the Connecticut Post.

A lawyer for the two students she accused of raping her told the Connecticut Post that the two students withdrew from the university. Both were football players, and have had to deal with the stigma of being accused rapists, according to the Connecticut Post.

Click here to read the Connecticut Post story.

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