- Alice Sebold apologised to the man she had mistakenly identified 40 years ago as her rapist.
- “I want to say that I am truly sorry to Anthony Broadwater and I deeply regret what you have been through,” She wrote.
- Broadwater was exonerated, but he had already spent 16 years in prison.
Alice Sebold is the author of “The Lovely Bones” “Lucky,”She apologized to Anthony Broadwater for misidentifying her as her rapist 40-years ago.
“First, I want to say that I am truly sorry to Anthony Broadwater and I deeply regret what you have been through,” Sebold wrote in Medium on Tuesday.
She continued: “I am sorry most of all for the fact that the life you could have led was unjustly robbed from you, and I know that no apology can change what happened to you and never will.”
Broadwater, who had already spent 16 years in prison for the rape of Sebold last week, was exonerated. The New York Times reported.
According to the Times, Sebold first identified another suspect in a police line-up, but later identified Broadwater in court as her attacker.
“40 years ago, as a traumatized 18-year-old rape victim, I chose to put my faith in the American legal system. My goal in 1982 was justice — not to perpetuate injustice,”Sebold wrote.
“I am grateful that Mr. Broadwater has finally been vindicated, but the fact remains that 40 years ago, he became another young Black man brutalized by our flawed legal system. I will forever be sorry for what was done to him. … I will continue to struggle with the role that I unwittingly played within a system that sent an innocent man to jail.”
Sebold stated that she will have to deal with the reality that her true attacker could have attacked other women.
This is a developing story. Keep checking back for more updates.