Woman featured in Te'o fake girlfriend photo speaks out

Diane O'Meara: Photos used without her knowledge

Manti Te'o interview


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Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Posted: 01/22/2013
Last Updated: 118 days ago

NEW YORK - The woman whose photo was used as the "face" of the Twitter account of Manti Te'o's supposed girlfriend says the man allegedly behind the hoax confessed and apologized to her.

Diane O'Meara spoke to NBC's "Today" show Tuesday. She says Ronaiah Tuiasosopo used pictures of her without her knowledge in creating a fake woman called Lennay Kekua. Te'o asserts he was tricked into an online romance with Kekua and, until last week, believed she died of leukemia in September.

O'Meara went to high school with Tuiasosopo, but she says they're not close. She says he called to apologize Jan. 16, the day Deadspin.com broke the hoax story, but "I don't think there's anything he could say to me that would fix this."

The 23-year-old O'Meara is a marketing executive in Los Angeles. She says that for five years, Tuiasosopo "has literally been stalking my Facebook and stealing my photos."

On Thursday, Katie Couric's interview with Te’o and his parents, Brian and Ottilia, is scheduled to appear on "Katie" featured on ABC 10. It's their first on-camera interview since the hoax scandal broke.

 

Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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