13 year old recants her story of gang rape

The news has let us know about a 13-year-old Zion girl who was gang raped by 7 boys in a basement laundry room.

Now it appears that with the help of local officials, the girl claims it was actually consensual.

What I find disturbing here is that something clearly happened, it's not as if nothing happened in that room. What is truly disturbing to me is that her interpretation has changed.

How did this come to be?

Anyone who has been educated in sexual assault knows that recanting is quite common and does not always, and usually doesn't mean the assault never happened. It is a common reaction to trauma, denial, shame, exhaustion, confusion, stress, fear of retaliation and even peer/adult pressure.

Originally, the police had this to say:
"There's a tremendous amount of evidence, and we believe we have a solid case and we'll make arrests," Lt. Wayne Brooks said.

Now however, "Physical evidence also showed there was no coercion", according to Chief Doug Malcolm.

Where did all this evidence go?