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Two Steubenville football players found guilty of raping teenage girl at party Two Steubenville football players found guilty of raping teenage girl at party
(about 2 hours later)
Two members of the high school football team that is the pride of Steubenville were found guilty Sunday of raping a drunken 16-year-old girl in a case that bitterly divided the Rust Belt city and led to accusations of a cover-up to protect the community's athletes. Two high school football players from a team that was the pride of the small former steel-producing town of Steubenville, Ohio, were convicted Sunday of raping a drunken 16-year-old girl at a party.
Steubenville High School students Trent Mays and Ma'Lik Richmond were sentenced to at least a year in juvenile jail, capping a case that came to light via a barrage of morning-after text messages, social media posts and online photos and video. Mays was sentenced to an additional year in jail on a charge of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material, to be served after his rape sentence is completed. Former school quarterback Trent Mays, 17, and team-mate Ma'lik Richmond, 16, broke down in tears in the juvenile court after being found guilty in a case that bitterly divided the declining Rust Belt city and had led to accusations of a cover-up to protect the community's revered athletes. Both were ordered to serve at least a year behind bars, with Mays given an additional 12 months for distributing an image of a nude minor.
The two teens broke down in tears after the verdict was read and later apologized to the victim and to the community. Both were emotional as they spoke, and Richmond struggled at times to talk through his sobs. Richmond broke into sobs as he approached the victim's family after the verdict, and was heard to tell them: "I'm sorry for the trouble I have caused you."
Mays, 17, and Richmond, 16, were charged with digitally penetrating the West Virginia girl, first in the back seat of a moving car after an alcohol-fueled party on Aug. 11, and then in the basement of a house. They were ordered to avoid contact with the victim until they're 21. Mays also burst into tears and mumbled apologies but did not go over to the family.
The case roiled the community amid allegations that more students should have been charged and led to questions about the influence of the local football team, a source of a pride in a community of 18,000 that suffered massive job losses with the collapse of the steel industry. Their arms linked, protesters stood outside the courthouse Sunday morning awaiting the verdict, some wearing masks. Supporters of the victim, who had demonstrated outside the court for the four days of testimony, clapped and cheered when the guilty verdict was handed down by judge Thomas Lipps, who sat alone without a jury to decide the case.
The trial opened last week as a contest between prosecutors determined to show the girl was so drunk she couldn't have been a willing participant that night, and defense attorneys soliciting testimony from witnesses that would indicate that the girl, though drunk, knew what she was doing. "Justice has been done in a very difficult case that I wasn't sure would go the right way," said local housewife Rebecca Mikesell outside the court in downtown Steubenville. She added: "The victim was very brave to speak up about this and it's been important for her to know she was supported. Rape is not just the stranger dragging someone into a dark alley."
The teenage girl testified Saturday that she could not recall what happened the night of the attack but remembered waking up naked in a strange house after drinking at a party. The girl said she recalled drinking, leaving the party holding hands with Mays and throwing up later. When she woke up, she said she discovered her phone, earrings, shoes, and underwear were missing, she testified. The rape allegations followed a series of rowdy parties last August involving Steubenville High School football players and friends where Mays and Richmond sexually assaulted the girl after she collapsed drunk.
The case came to light and drew national and even international attention after a barrage of morning-after text messages, social media posts and online photos and video surfaced, recording and commenting on the events of the night.
Steubenville itself also came under close scrutiny as questions were raised over whether football players in the depressed town behaved as if they were above the law and could get away with crimes because they are local heroes, especially in contrast to the collapse of the steel industry in the region.
Mays and Richmond were accused of using their fingers to penetrate the girl without her consent. Under Ohio law, the definition of rape includes digital penetration.
The victim took the stand in court on Saturday afternoon and broke down crying for about a minute when shown a picture captured on a mobile phone that showed her lying naked on the floor at a party, with semen from one of the defendants on her chest.
She had always maintained that she was so drunk that she remembered very little of the evening, having drunk vodka early on, and recalled nothing after midnight when the assaults occurred.
Mays was accused of assaulting her in a car on the way from one party to another, after she had already vomited and been stumbling and slurring her words.
Mays and Richmond were then both accused of assaulting her again at a house party in a basement.
Most of the evidence in the case came from witness testimony and text messages and photographs retrieved from 17 mobile devices confiscated by the police in the days after the parties.
The trial opened last week as a contest between prosecutors determined to show the girl was so drunk she couldn't have been a willing participant that night, and defence attorneys soliciting testimony from witnesses that would indicate that the girl, though drunk, knew what she was doing.
The court heard yesterday that the girl woke up at the party the next morning and friends of the defendants were hostile towards her.
"It was really scary," she said. "I honestly did not know what to think because I could not remember anything.""It was really scary," she said. "I honestly did not know what to think because I could not remember anything."
The girl said she believed she was assaulted when she later read text messages among friends and saw a photo of herself taken that night, along with a video that made fun of her and the alleged attack. She said she suspected she had been drugged because she couldn't explain being as intoxicated as defense witnesses have said she was. Supporters of the girl were angry that more people were not charged in the case.
"They treated her like a toy," said special prosecutor Marianne Hemmeter. Three boys who were at the party and did nothing to stop the assaults nor report them were granted immunity in order to testify, after they claimed the right to remain silent under the Fifth Amendment.
Evidence introduced at the trial included graphic text messages sent by numerous students after the night of the party, including by the accuser, containing provocative descriptions of sex acts and obscene language. Lawyers noted during the trial how texts have seemed to replace talking on the phone for contemporary teens. A computer forensic expert called by the state documented tens of thousands of texts found on 17 phones seized during the investigation. But Ohio attorney general Mike DeWine yesterday said he was convening a grand jury to determine if any charges should be brought against any other individuals involved either on the night of the incident or in trying to cover up the event afterwards.
The girl herself recalled being in a car later with Mays and Richmond and asking them what happened. Mays and Richmond were determined by Lipps to be delinquent, the juvenile equivalent of guilty.
"They kept telling me I was a hassle and they took care of me," she testified. "I thought I could trust him (Mays) until I saw the pictures and video." They can be held until they are 21, and the length of their sentence beyond the minimum announced will be determined by juvenile authorities after the two have been assessed.
In questioning her account, defense attorneys went after her character and credibility. Two former friends of the girl testified that the accuser had a history of drinking heavily and was known to lie. Lipps said he hoped they would be incarcerated at one of Ohio's facilities specifically geared to rehabilitating young sex offenders.
"The reality is, she drank, she has a reputation for telling lies," said lawyer Walter Madison, representing Richmond. It will also be determined later how long each will be a registered sex offender.
/>Sheriff Fred Abdalla said outside court: "this verdict shows there was no cover-up. All the evidence was gathered within days and examined thoroughly."
The two girls testified they were angry at the accuser because she was drinking heavily at the party and rolling around on the floor. They said they tried unsuccessfully to get her to stop drinking. The victim, who name is known by many who attended court but is not being released officially, was understood not to be in court Sunday.
The accuser said that she does not remember being photographed as she was carried by Mays and Richmond, an image that stirred up outrage, first locally, then globally, as it spread online. Others have testified the photo was a joke and the girl was conscious when it was taken. But after the verdict her mother said: "It doesn't matter what school you go to, who your parents are or what sport you play, everyone needs to behave with a modicum of human compassion. These boys showed a lack of compassion to our daughter and to their community as a whole."
The photograph led to allegations that three other boys, two of them members of Steubenville's celebrated Big Red team, saw something happening that night and didn't try to stop it but instead recorded it. Richmond's father said outside court that he stood behind his son and that he was proud of him for apologising to the girl's parents.
The three boys weren't charged, fueling months of online accusations of a cover-up to protect the team, which law enforcement authorities have vehemently denied. Onlooker Judi Panasik, from the nearby town of Washington across the border in Pennsylvania, said the verdict was an important step to correct what she believed was "a culture of rape" in male sport, in particular the macho sport of football, and in the region.
Instead, the teens were granted immunity to testify, and their accounts helped incriminate the defendants. They said the girl was so drunk she didn't seem to know what was happening to her and confirmed she was digitally penetrated in a car and later on a basement floor. "Those who are able to get out and better themselves do. Those who stay behind in these depressed towns are often more into glorifying sport and protecting the heroes than they are in treating women with respect," she said.
Ohio's attorney general planned to announce later Sunday whether additional charges will be brought against others in the case. She said she and a friend went to a bar in Steubenville the night before, where supporters of the defendants thought the case should never have been brought because everyone at the parties was just drunk and "larking around" together, while others were angry at the stain they had put on the town's reputation and wanted the judge to give them the maximum penalty.
Mays and Richmond were determined to be delinquent, the juvenile equivalent of guilty, Judge Thomas Lipps ruled in the juvenile court trial without a jury. "This verdict is so relevant. So many cases involving sportsmen end in acquittal, or the case is not brought to trial in the first place. I hope this teaches people that alcohol is dangerous for teens and consent is a very important part of how teenagers conduct themselves around sex," she said.
They can be held until they're 21, and the length of their sentence beyond the minimum one year will be determined by juvenile authorities.
The Associated Press normally doesn't identify minors charged in juvenile court, but Mays and Richmond have been widely identified in news coverage, and their names have been used in open court. The AP also does not generally identify people who say they were victims of sex crimes.