TEACH WOMEN NOT TO LIE ABOUT RAPE: Student accused of false rape allegations claims mental illness. “The former Sacred Heart University student accused of making up rape allegations against two football players to gain sympathy from a prospective boyfriend filed an application in court Friday contending she was suffering from a psychiatric disability. It will be up to a judge to decide whether to grant 19-year-old Nikki Yovino a pretrial diversionary program that could result in the charges being dismissed against Yovino at a hearing set for Sept. 8. Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Craig Nowak said he is going to object. . . . Agustin Sevillano, the lawyer for the now-former football players, who are not being identified, described what his clients went through as a result of Yovino’s rape allegations. They were scheduled for a school disciplinary hearing but, on the advice of legal council, agreed instead to withdraw from the university rather than face the chance of being expelled and having that on their records. He said one of his clients lost a football scholarship. They have also had to live with the stigma of being accused rapists, he said.”