Princeton Student Faked Own Attack

Last week Francisco Nava, a conservative and anti-gay Princeton student, told police and campus officials that he'd been roughed up by "men in black ski masks" and received hate mail after writing a column in the student newspaper criticizing the school for giving out free condoms. Other members of Princeton's Anscombe Society, a conservative student organization, who have spoken out against premarital sex and same-sex marriage, said they received similar threats.

Turns out, Nava's injuries were self-inflicted and he was sending the threatening emails himself.

Mount Laurel, New Jersey) A Princeton University student who argued that his conservative views were not accepted on the campus confessed to fabricating an assault and sending threatening e-mail messages to himself and some friends who shared his views, authorities say.

Princeton Township police said that Francisco Nava was not immediately charged with any crime, but that the investigation was continuing.

Nava claimed to have been assaulted Friday by two men off campus, police said. But he later confessed that scrapes and scratches on his face were self-inflicted, and that the threats were his work, too, said Detective Sgt. Ernie Silagyi.

A spokeswoman for the Ivy League university said punishment, which could range from a warning to expulsion, was pending Monday.

"The university takes all matters related to the safety of its community members very seriously," said spokeswoman Lauren Robinson-Brown. "It's particularly concerning that a student would fabricate such matters."

Nava was turned in by his own friends after they noted inconsistencies in his stories. Another likely closet case, beating himself up about it. Literally.
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