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ABBEVILLE, Alabama — The mayor of a southeast Alabama town and a state legislator are apologizing to relatives of a black woman raped in 1944 by a gang of white men.

Abbeville Mayor Ryan Blalock expressed his sorrow to relatives of Recy Taylor during a news conference today. The woman’s brother and several other relatives attended.

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Now 91 years old, Taylor was 24 and living in her native Henry County when she was gang-raped in Abbeville in 1944. The married woman was walking home from church when she was abducted, assaulted and left on the side of the road in an isolated area.

Two all-white, all-male grand juries declined to bring charges. State Rep. Dexter Grimsley of Newville says police bungled the investigation and harassed Taylor.

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