CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Megan Williams, who was supposed to take back her story that seven Logan County residents beat, raped and tortured her, didn't speak at a press conference at her lawyer's office on Wednesday.

Instead, lawyer Byron L. Potts recanted her claims for her. He said Williams told him that the only injuries that weren't self-inflicted were the bruises on her face.

"She is recanting the entire incident. She says it did not happen, and she's scared,'' Potts said. He urged prosecutors to re-examine the cases against the seven people convicted in the attack.

Authorities don't believe Williams' new claims. They point to the physical evidence and the fact that all seven defendants pleaded guilty and confessed their roles in the incident.

State Police found Williams on Sept. 8, 2007, at the trailer where Frankie Brewster and her son Bobby lived; she and Bobby Brewster had a relationship. Besides the Brewsters, five other people were charged in the case. Six of the seven are now in prison.

Williams' most recent claims leave current Logan County Prosecutor John Bennett with a very difficult problem. He briefly represented one of the defendants in the case, though he wouldn't say which one.

So if the cases against the seven defendants are re-examined, Bennett said, it won't be at his direction. He believes a judge involved in one of the cases would need to appoint a special prosecutor to look into the claims.

None of the defendants' current lawyers could be reached on Wednesday. The lawyer who represented defendant Karen Burton, Betty Gregory, now works in the prosecutor's office. Burton was the only person charged with a hate crime in the case.

Bennett also said Megan Williams could be charged.

"If we get into that, theoretically at least, then I suppose someone might determine that charges should be brought against her," he said. "On that narrow issue I might not be disqualified [from prosecuting Williams]. But I wouldn't do it unless a judge said it was OK to do it."

Manipulation

Rev. Lloyd Hill, pastor of Liberty Missionary Baptist Church, says he was the first person who Carmen Williams, Megan Williams' adoptive mother, called after Megan was found. Hill and Carmen Williams grew up together.

"I went up there out of concern," said Hill, who grew up with Carmen Williams. "[Megan] looked really devastated, she looked abused. There were bruises, scratches all over her. She was shaking. She looked terrified.

"But on the other hand, she acted like a 10- or 12-year-old girl," Hill said. He said Megan was excited that people were sending her stuffed dolls and animals.

"When I saw her I thought, this is a tragic situation for a young woman who basically has the mind of a child," Hill said.

In the days after Megan was found, local and national media attention intensified. Hill said he told Carmen and Megan Williams that he and other local ministers were here to help.

"I assured her, whatever you need, we're going to be here walking by your side," he said.

But soon, Hill says, the family was being manipulated by the media and by Malik Shabazz, whose New Black Panther Party became involved with Megan.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Megan Williams, who was supposed to take back her story that seven Logan County residents beat, raped and tortured her, didn't speak at a press conference at her lawyer's office on Wednesday.

Instead, lawyer Byron L. Potts recanted her claims for her. He said Williams told him that the only injuries that weren't self-inflicted were the bruises on her face.

"She is recanting the entire incident. She says it did not happen, and she's scared,'' Potts said. He urged prosecutors to re-examine the cases against the seven people convicted in the attack.

Authorities don't believe Williams' new claims. They point to the physical evidence and the fact that all seven defendants pleaded guilty and confessed their roles in the incident.

State Police found Williams on Sept. 8, 2007, at the trailer where Frankie Brewster and her son Bobby lived; she and Bobby Brewster had a relationship. Besides the Brewsters, five other people were charged in the case. Six of the seven are now in prison.

Williams' most recent claims leave current Logan County Prosecutor John Bennett with a very difficult problem. He briefly represented one of the defendants in the case, though he wouldn't say which one.

So if the cases against the seven defendants are re-examined, Bennett said, it won't be at his direction. He believes a judge involved in one of the cases would need to appoint a special prosecutor to look into the claims.

None of the defendants' current lawyers could be reached on Wednesday. The lawyer who represented defendant Karen Burton, Betty Gregory, now works in the prosecutor's office. Burton was the only person charged with a hate crime in the case.

Bennett also said Megan Williams could be charged.

"If we get into that, theoretically at least, then I suppose someone might determine that charges should be brought against her," he said. "On that narrow issue I might not be disqualified [from prosecuting Williams]. But I wouldn't do it unless a judge said it was OK to do it."

Manipulation

Rev. Lloyd Hill, pastor of Liberty Missionary Baptist Church, says he was the first person who Carmen Williams, Megan Williams' adoptive mother, called after Megan was found. Hill and Carmen Williams grew up together.

"I went up there out of concern," said Hill, who grew up with Carmen Williams. "[Megan] looked really devastated, she looked abused. There were bruises, scratches all over her. She was shaking. She looked terrified.

"But on the other hand, she acted like a 10- or 12-year-old girl," Hill said. He said Megan was excited that people were sending her stuffed dolls and animals.

"When I saw her I thought, this is a tragic situation for a young woman who basically has the mind of a child," Hill said.

In the days after Megan was found, local and national media attention intensified. Hill said he told Carmen and Megan Williams that he and other local ministers were here to help.

"I assured her, whatever you need, we're going to be here walking by your side," he said.

But soon, Hill says, the family was being manipulated by the media and by Malik Shabazz, whose New Black Panther Party became involved with Megan.

"They never had been in that situation. A lot of people came at her with a lot of promises," Hill said. "The situation was bigger than she was. ... Once Hollywood, the media got a hold, I think they exploited not only her but the economics of her situation, the personal problems."

Brian Abraham, Logan County's prosecutor at the time, said that when the Williams family came to the courthouse, they were more concerned with whether any more donations had come in to the sheriff's office than with the status of the case against those who assaulted Megan.

Abraham said Shabazz's involvement had a negative effect on the case, and was the reason Abraham asked for a legal guardian to be appointed to protect Megan Williams' interests.

He said he withdrew the request after Shabazz agreed not to hold any more rallies or marches and to let the legal system run its course. Shabazz kept his word for a few weeks before resuming his activities, Abraham said.

"That's the sad thing about the situation. Nobody stepped in there, even the judicial system," Hill said. "They said she's an adult, she can make her own decisions. But at what cost? If somebody somewhere could have stepped in, then maybe we wouldn't be where we are."

Shabazz did not return telephone calls Tuesday afternoon. Matthew Williams, Megan's adoptive father, could not be reached for comment.

National activist Rev. Al Sharpton attended a rally for Megan Williams in Charleston in December 2007 and gave her $1,000 of his own money.

"I think that it was important to be here tonight because I think that what happened to Megan Williams was a disgrace to this country," Sharpton said at that rally. "When they had [a march last month] I couldn't be here. People began taking positions on ideology and personality."

On Wednesday, Sharpton told the Gazette that he came down for the rally but wasn't involved in any marches and did not represent the Williams family. He said he was involved only as a supporter of Williams.

Sharpton also said he'd heard about Megan lying before, such as when she appeared on "The Montel Williams Show." She said then she was bound and gagged when State Police arrived at the Brewsters' trailer, but managed to free herself and clawed her way to the house from an outside building. Abraham has said he knew that story was false.

Sharpton said he told Potts on Tuesday that if Megan was lying and wanted to recant her story, then she should go public. He said he wrote a letter to the Logan County prosecutor saying that if Williams was lying, then the prosecutor should look into the case.

"This was not a case I represented at all," Sharpton said. "I think this guy [Potts] is trying to get national attention. ... It seemed odd to us. This was not our case."

In June 2008 Megan moved to Columbus, Ohio, where her sister Shala was already living with another woman, Valencia Daniels.

Daniels repeatedly called the Gazette, saying she was taking care of Megan and her sister. Megan once got on the phone, saying that Carmen Williams took all of the money people sent her and used the money for drugs. Carmen Williams died in June of this year.

Daniels said she was trying to organize a rally for Williams in Columbus. A YouTube video that has since been taken down showed Williams and Daniels asking for money. They said Williams had been taken advantage of and her money, stolen. They asked people, particularly wealthy black people, to send money.

Hill thinks Williams originally moved to Columbus to try and put her torture and rape behind her.

"I don't think she intentionally lies," he said. "She just can't go back and walk the same track the way she walked it to begin with."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach Gary Harki at gha...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5163.