Man Regains Freedom After Being Incarcerated For Six Years For a Rape He Didn't Commit

In 2002, Wanetta Gibson, whose photo is shown below, accused  Brian Banks of raping her when she was just 15 years old. She told the police that Banks dragged her across their school campus and raped her. He spend more than five years in prison and another five years on parole and had to register as a sex offender and was still wearing an ankle monitor until Thursday May 24th when he was exonerated after Wanetta admitted that she lied about the rape.

Wanetta Gibson

While Brian was locked up, Wanetta's family successfully sued the school district, claiming that it had failed to adequately protect her and the school paid $1.5 million to the family.

Brian Banks

Wanetta eventually admitted in a videotaped interview with a private investigator that Brian never raped her. She said she would go through with helping him, but doesn't want her family to have to pay back the amount of money given to them from the law suit. She later refused to repeat her story to prosecutors, but her videotaped confession was enough to exonerate Brian.



Banks got the chance to clear his name in February 2011 when Wanetta contacted him through Facebook and asked him to "let bygones be bygones".
Brian Banks at 17, was a very good football player at Long Beach Polytechnic and was headed to the University of Southern California on a full scholarship. His hopes appeared to have been ruined when Banks and Wanetta ducked into a school stairway to make out. Though they didn't have sex, the girl claimed Banks dragged her across campus and raped her.

When the judge agreed to throw out his conviction on Thursday, Banks lowered his head and wept.