Rolling Stone Managing Editor Will Dana's apology that was published on Friday over the University of Virginia rape story has not ended the controversy generated by the article.

It also raised questions on how academic institutions handle accusations of sexual molestation and journalistic practices when writing sensitive topics like rape, reports Christian Science Monitor.

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Dana wrote in the "A Note to Our Readers" section, "In the face of new information, there now appear to be discrepancies in Jackie's account, and we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced."

He added, "Because of the sensitive nature of Jackie's story, we decided to honor her request not to contact the man she claimed orchestrated the attack on her nor any of the men she claimed participated in the attack for fear of retaliation against her."

The 9,000-word article, written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely and published on November 19, was about University of Virginia (UVA) freshman Jackie's claim of being a victim of a frat-house gang rape. She pointed to a lifeguard at UVA's aquatic center as the leader of the rape that happened on September 28, 2012.

However, Washington Post noted that contrary to Dana's apology and Erderly's account, Rolling Stone tried to find the alleged rapists but couldn't. WP said the failure to locate the men was a red flag that the crime possibly did not happen.

The paper also pointed out failure of Erdely to check facts such as Jackie's claim of recognizing the face of her alleged rapists even if she described the room where the attack happened as pitch black. There was also a question over the door which Jackie claimed to have used to leave the fraternity house, but it turned out there was no such exit.

The apology appears to have confirmed suspicions of Rolling Stone readers that the story was a hoax, but rape survivor groups pointed out that the inconsistencies in Jackie's version could be due to trauma. Laura Dunn, founder of SurvJustice, a legal advocacy group, and herself a rape survivor, said the apology has a "huge ripple effect" and further fuels reader not to believe rape victims.

Tracy Cox, communications director of the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, said the Rolling Stones apology would hopefully not dissuade reporters from writing important stories and victims from not stepping forward.

The Virginia Alpha Chapter of Phi Kappa Psi, the fraternity, said on Friday that it has no member employed as lifeguard at the UVA aquatic center and it didn't have any social event on September 28, the date that Jackie claimed when the gang rape occurred.

The Charleston Police Department is investigating the alleged gang rape.

TagsRape, Rolling Stone, University of Virginia