Tawana Brawley begins paying man she falsely accused of rape in 1987

Steven Pagones said Tawana Brawley has begun paying him damages 26 years after she falsely accused him of being among a group of men who raped her. The payment came as nearly $3,800 in wage garnishments, Pagones told CNN Sunday. Brawley still owes Pagones more than $400,000 in defamation damages. In the fall of 1987, Brawley, who is black, was found in a trash bag in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., with racial slurs written across her body. Then 15, she claimed she was kidnapped and repeatedly raped by a group of white men. The Rev. Al Sharpton became Brawley's spokesman, with the activist organizing rallies and calling for justice on her behalf. When a grand jury heard the case, it determined Brawley lied. Pagones, who was an assistant district attorney, then filed a civil suit against Brawley, Sharpton and Brawley's lawyers as defendants. Sharpton paid his debt to Pagones, but Brawley, now 41 and a nurse in Virginia, still owes Pagones more than $431,000. Pagones told CNN he would forgive Brawley's debt if she would issue a personal apology and clear his name of all wrongdoing. "Just tell the truth. That's all I'm looking for here. I have been battling this since day one, and it's really all about telling the truth," Pagones said.