The Nation - News from March 3, 1988

A black teen-ager who refuses to cooperate with a grand jury investigating her claim she was raped by six white men in November has been taken into seclusion by a minister who said he wants to hide her from the media. Rev. Al Sharpton denied the move was intended to keep Tawana Brawley, 16, of Wappingers Falls, N.Y., away from the grand jury impaneled Monday or from Atty. Gen. Robert Abrams, appointed by the governor to be the special prosecutor in the case. The Brooklyn minister has assumed the role of spokesman for the Brawley family and their two lawyers. On the advice of Sharpton and her attorneys, Brawley has refused to talk with prosecutors. However, the Poughkeepsie Journal, quoting an anonymous source said to be close to the family, reported that threats against Brawley may soon motivate the family to end a stalemate and begin cooperating.