20-year-old Ciaran McKenna, lost his scholarship  and two soccer eligibility years at Duke Univ. after being suspended on a false rape claim

A soccer star who was falsely accused of raping a fellow student at a top prestigious Duke university has spoken out about the ordeal that left him ‘broken’.
Ciaran McKenna, 20, made the trip across the pond from this home in Uddingston outside of Glasgow, Scotland three years ago to study political science and business at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina after receiving a 4255,000 [£200,000] scholarship to play soccer for the school, a perennial sporting and  academic power house.
The 6’4 athlete, who gave up a professional contract with the top sports club in Scotland, Glasgow Celtic Football Club, for the opportunity, had his world fall apart in February 2016 when he was accused of rape by a fellow student.
McKenna was cleared of the accusation and paid a speculated six-figure settlement from Duke, but he said the experience had changed him and he is now abstaining from sex.
The soccer player who is set to graduate from Duke in December, says he plans to move back to Scotland with hopes of resurrecting his career with Celtic FC.

 ‘It’s been a rollercoaster, to put it mildly,’ McKenna said in an interview.
‘But I don’t regret coming to Duke, weirdly. I’ve still managed to have a great time and have had amazing experiences.’
He added: ‘I became popular very quickly, with the Scottish accent and the fact that I played for Celtic, the stories that I had.
‘I had players tell me I’m going to get so many girls with my accent and the football.
‘That almost made me feel as if I was under pressure and had to live up to some sort of expectation of the cool, great Scottish footballer who can get all the girls.
‘The whole college campus culture is very different from back home.
‘Here you have the sororities and fraternities, the richest and prettiest getting together. And the athletes.
‘It was just a social hierarchy that doesn’t exist at home. It was mesmerizing. And also the casual hook-up scene that goes on.’

He was accused of rape by a fellow student after the pair went home together after meeting at a nightclub in November of 2015. Once back in the room, Mr McKenna put on a condom and they engaged in penetrative and oral sex.
Afterwards, McKenna gave the student a kiss on the forehead as he left the room and she thanked him.
A week after the encounter the student asked her one night stand for his number, which McKenna declined to give her because he heard she was ‘clingy’ and he ‘didn’t want to get involved in that’.

She claimed that during intercourse, she told him no and moved herself away from his penis.
Mr McKenna said he was baffled by her claims, pointing out that she admitted she had thanked him and he kissed her afterwards.
He said to the Times: ‘She’s claiming that I went from a rapist to a pretty decent person in the space of 15 minutes? That just doesn’t make sense at all. And then the thank you at the end?’
Ciaran McKenna’s legal saga with Duke University lasted for two and a half years.
The school’s disciplinary panel initially said the accuser’s story wasn’t credible but after several hearings, Duke suspended McKenna for two years.
After the suspension, he launched a civil suit against the school, which was recently settled out of court. Although the sum hasn’t been disclosed, McKenna announced he will be donating a six-figure sum to the Duke Wrongful Convictions Clinic.

After being suspended, Mr McKenna launched a civil suit against the school, which was recently settled out of court.
Although the sum hasn’t been disclosed, Mr McKenna announced he will be donating a six-figure sum to the Duke Wrongful Convictions Clinic.
He also revealed he has since changed his lifestyle, saying: ‘In terms of socializing, I do still enjoy a night out with friends and that will never change but I certainly will contain a lot of what I drink.
‘I do not indulge in the one-night stand/hook-up culture, or sex at all, for that matter.
‘At the moment I have a girlfriend, and without going into too much detail, we both are honouring God in our relationship.
‘I was brought up a devout Catholic. When I came here I lost touch with God and Catholicism, but this has made me realise how much I need God and I have grown much closer with Him through this time. ‘
Moving forward, Mr McKenna will graduate from Duke in December and return to Scotland and has hopes of one day entering politics and becoming an MP.