Oct 06, 2016 06:19 AM EDT By Noi Ramirez, UniversityHerald Reporter

Nate Parker in a sit-down last Sunday's edition of CBS's 60 Minutes with Anderson Cooper said he does not feel guilty when asked if he felt any guilt over the rape scandal he was in 17 years ago.

He and his Penn State wrestling teammate, Jean Celestin, were accused of rape back in the 1990's. The court found Parker not guilty while Celestin got a guilty verdict and sentenced to 6 months in prison. A re-trial overturned the conviction and his record expunged.

News about the scandal resurfaced in light of the theatrical release of his movie "Birth of a Nation." Parker wrote, directed and stars in the biopic about African-American Nat Turner who led a sustained slave rebellion in 1831.

The woman who accused Parker and Celestin committed suicide in 2012, as reported in an exclusive by Variety. In the report, her brother disclosed that his sister was at a drug rehabilitation facility where staff found her unresponsive with two 100-count over-the-counter pill bottles of sleep aid by her side.

During court proceedings, the accuser testified that she attempted to commit suicide twice after the reported rape. Variety obtained her death certificate, which indicated that she suffered from "major depressive disorder with psychotic features, PTSD due to physical and sexual abuse, polysubstance abuse...."

Many question the timing of the resurrection of this closed case mainly attributed to the soon to be released drama about the slave rebellion of 1831. Parker co-wrote the movie with Celestin and was acquired by Fox Searchlight in a record-breaking deal for $17.5 million at the Sundance Film Festival.

In the CBS 60 Minutes interview with Anderson Cooper, Parker said, he had no idea the woman took her own life and that he only found out about it in the news. He continues by saying he was devastated and found it shocking.

Asked by Anderson Cooper if he has anything to apologize for, he replied that though he thinks what happened was tragic and what the family had to endure, he doesn't want to harp on it and be disrespectful. He continues by saying he was falsely accused, went to court and sat in the trial.

With voice breaking, he said he was vindicated, proven innocent. He feels terrible the woman isn't here and that her family had to deal with that. In closing the statement he finally said "But as I sit here, an apology is...no. "

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