Sickening Video of Steubenville Athletes

Earl wrote:More info . . .

http://news.yahoo.com/why-nobody-trusts-steubenville-171732708.html

Well, since you only posted the link, I decided to copy and paste the article here from Atlantic Wire.

Also, notice that when I'm posting articles, I like to use black text instead of the default color, and I like to justify both the left and right hand margins.

Anyway . . . . . again, here's the link to the article, and the article itself posted in it's entirety.

http://news.yahoo.com/why-nobody-trusts-steubenville-171732708.html

==================================================



Why Nobody Trusts Steubenville

RELATED CONTENT


Why Nobody Trusts Steubenville

Corruption: It's at the heart of the controversy over the rape case in Steubenville, Ohio, and it has to do with a lot more than just the legendary Big Red football program. Allegations of a cover-up stretching from the team to the local police to the prosecutor's office have been surfacing on social media since the alleged incident in August, but they have been lacking in detail, and that's why the hackers at Anonymous and LocalLeaks got involved last week. As the so-called Steubenville Files continue to piece together a blurry narrative based on leaked documents, viral videos, and anonymous accounts from city locals, Steubenville leaders launched a fact-finding site of their own this weekend, aiming to "disseminate the most accurate information" about the city and the football team's alleged involvement in the rape of a 16-year-old girl. But the answer to the question on everyone's mind — who should you trust? — lies beneath the small city's long history of corruption, spanning from a Justice Department investigation to rape survivors just now coming forward with tales of the police discouraging them from speaking out. As a petition seeking "real justice" crosses the threshold that will demand a public response as high up as the White House, here's a look back at Steubenville's reputation, 70 years in the making:

RELATED: The Steubenville Rape Case's Party Host Has His Sports Scholarship Under Review

1940s-1960s: "Little Chicago"

RELATED: Local Leaks Tipsters Allege Steubenville Victim Was Drugged

That's not a good nickname to be carrying around in the Midwest's heyday of mobsters, and the monicker wasn't just because of the "downtown bustle" in the "corruption"-laden little Ohio metropolis. "Steubenville is trying to live down its reputation for brothels, gambling joints, and crooked machine politics," the AP's Beth Grace wrote back in 1986. During the late 80s, according to Grace, the city began to take its corrupt officials to task, but . . .

RELATED: Everything You Need to Know About Steubenville High's Football 'Rape Crew'

After a year-long investigation, the Justice Department made Steubenville's police department just the second in history forced to sign an agreement setting up new measures to combat police corruption under the 1994 Crime Bill. Here is part of the 1997 ruling on misconduct involving the city police and the city manager — the same two offices, it turns out, that spoke out in this weekend's new fact-finding mission:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The United States brings this action to enforce Section 210401 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, 42 U.S.C. § 14141. The United States alleges that officers of the Steubenville Police Department have engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured and protected by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, and that the City of Steubenville, the Steubenville Police Department, and the Steubenville City Manager (in his capacity as Director of Public Safety) have caused and condoned this conduct through inadequate policies and failure to train, monitor, supervise, and discipline police officers, and to investigate alleged misconduct.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part of that agreement involved promising to start a new training program for all police officers, including a special section on domestic violence, as well as a new internal-affairs policy.

RELATED: One of Steubenville's 'Rape Crew' Wants to Get Out of Steubenville

The Celebrity Testimonies

When it comes to famous people claiming Steubenville as home, Dean Martin is the crown jewel. Then there's former porn star Traci Lords, who fled town after being sexually abused there at the age of 10. And, as has been making ripples on Twitter over the last week, there is the experience of Rza, the poetic rapper and filmmaker most famous for leading the Wu-Tang Clan. In his 2010 memoir The Tao of Wu, Rza wrote the following of his hometown:



Sheriff Abdalla and Rape

The New York Times story that first brought the case to national attention focused on the plight of city police chief William McCafferty, who was having trouble gathering eyewitness accounts. Collecting that kind of information was ostensibly the point of the efforts by Anonymous, but the hacking collective has focused instead on Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla, suggesting that he is close with Steubenville football coach Reno Saccoccia and that he was responsible for "inadvertently" deleting key video evidence. Over the weekend Abdalla took Anonymous to task in his office at an Occupy Steubenville rally, but as the spotlight refocuses on Abdalla, stories have surfaced all across social media suggesting that the sheriff might not be sympathetic to rape victims. Here's the Facebook post currently being highlighted by Anonymous:

Trippanti has not yet responded to a request for clarification from The Atlantic Wire, but according to LocalLeaks, to get the full story, but according to LocalLeaks, the WikiLeaks-style site amassing tips with Anonymous, the alleged victim of the controversial August incident had a similar experience talking to prosecuting attorney for Jefferson County, who is also the mother of a football player now in trouble with his university for allegedly throwing the party in question.

Meanwhile, the Steubenville Facts blog put together by city officials this weekend, in a post about Ohio law enforcement policies, explains why Sheriff Abadala hasn't been as involved as much as people watching the case would like to him to be:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crimes allegedly committed within the City of Steubenville fall within the jurisdiction of Steubenville Police. Crimes allegedly committed outside of the City but within Jefferson County fall within the jurisdiction of the County Sheriff. Because the information about alleged criminal activities in this case was first reported to city officials, the Steubenville Police Department investigated the case with the assistance of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steubenville Facts

"When people are saying that our police department did not follow procedure, that the football team runs the city, that is not the case," Steubenville City Manager Cathy Davison said at Saturday press conference announcing the new fact-finding mission by local leaders to counter the Anonymous leaks. "They went by the book. Everything was handled in an aboveboard fashion to make sure that the case can benefit from the fullest extent of the law."

And while many of the details of the case remain sealed by a judge's gag order on town officials ahead of initial hearings in the case (which may now be pushed back), the Steubenville Facts site seems more defensive than informative. The "official" blog highlights several talking points, including why the local police acted to the best of their ability:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Chief of Steubenville Police has been in this position for 13 years and is not a graduate of Steubenville City Schools (home of the “Big Red” sports teams). His child attends another school district.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The fact-finding site also seems to be setting expectations for a judicial timetable . . .

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With respect to other charges that could be brought aside from allegations of sexual assault, prosecutors and police have up to two years (for misdemeanors) and up to six years (for felonies) to bring charges. Often, charges are deferred until after a trial, to evaluate the sworn testimony of witnesses at the trial.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

. . . and a plea for patience:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ohio public records law provides the public the ability to review nearly the entire work product of the investigators once the case is completed. This will allow anyone, within the confines of the Public Records Act, to scrutinize what occurred between the reporting of the incident and the trial.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

==================================================

WOW! this Steubenville has a long history of corruption going back about 70 years!

Anyway . . . here's some more!

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/01/steubenville-rape-case-party-host/60656/

==================================================



The Steubenville Rape Case's Party Host Has
His Sports Scholarship Under Review



ALEXANDER ABAD-SANTOS | JAN 7, 2013

Update 1:15 p.m.: On January 6, Keenan's mother, Jefferson County Prosecutor Jane Hanlin denied the allegations that her son and her house were involved in the case. She said:

"All allegations that me or my son or my home are involved in any way whatsoever in this criminal matter are 100 percent false. None of the alleged events occurred at my home. My son was not present at any time while the victim was alleged to have been unconscious, photographed, videotaped or sexually assaulted. Any statement to the contrary is 100 percent false."

Original: The Steubenville rape case is rapidly broadening in blame to include more of what the hackers at Anonymous and LocalLeaks have dubbed the "Rape Crew," as Kent State University became the second college to publicly acknowledge it's paying close attention. The school is now reviewing the status of an accepted student athlete who played for the Steubenville High football team — and may have hosted the party where the alleged rape took place.

On Saturday, the day after Ohio State University made note of Michael Nodianos and his viral video commenting on the alleged incident, Kent State posted the following message on its Facebook page: "University leaders are aware of the developing investigation in Steubenville, and we are gathering information from the proper authorities." And over the weekend, Kent State officials told a local Patch site that "gathering information" means they're reviewing the status of a future student. "We understand the severity and the seriousness of the allegations, and as we collect more information we will take appropriate steps as warranted," a spokesman told Patch. "We are now following the developments from Steubenville very closely."

The future student in question is Charlie Keenan, a current senior at Steubenville High School. Keenan signed a letter of intent to wrestle for Kent State on scholarship in November — he played on the same football team as Trent Mays and Malik Richmond, who are currently facing charges as minors for raping a 16-year-old girl. (Mays's lawyer has moved to get his case postponed past its February 13 preliminary hearing date for "what we perceive as threats to individuals.") According to the much discussed Steubenville Files put together by Anonymous and LocalLeaks, "One of the parties to which the unconscious victim of this horrible crime was dragged to took place at the Hanlin house." (Jane Hanlin is a prosecuting attorney in Jefferson County and Keenan's mother; Charlie Keenan Sr. is a former principal of Steubenville High, where he played football.)

The review of Keenan's scholarship and status at Kent State led to a quick reaction:

On Friday, Ohio State University commented on another alleged member of the "Rape Crew," Michael Nodianos, who has been identified as the student making fun of the alleged victim in a video leaked by Anonymous that has already hit 325,000 plays on YouTube. While Kent State appears to be speaking out a bit more, an Ohio State spokesperson told The Atlantic Wire Unlike that the school was bound by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and was limited in commenting to confirm that "the student in question was in attendance at Ohio State only through December 12." Today Ohio State returns from winter break.

Update 1:24 p.m. Ohio State has now confirmed on its Facebook page that Michael Nodianos, the boy depicted in the 12-minute video making fun of the alleged gang rape victim, is no longer a student there.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at aabadsantos@theatlantic.com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

==================================================

So, Charlie Keenan's sports scholarship is under review. Eh?

Gee! Does that mean that he might not get to play football in college?

Aw! Poor baby!

Well, there are some prisons that have football teams. So, he may still get his chance to play ball.

Anyway . . . . . here's some more!

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/01/local-leaks-tipsters-allege-steubenville-victim-was-drugged/60597/

==================================================



Local Leaks Tipsters Allege Steubenville
Victim Was Drugged



ALEXANDER ABAD-SANTOS | JAN 4, 2013

The latest information posted to Local Leaks, the Wikileaks-like site that has devoted itself to finding details about Steubenville's so-called "Rape Crew", is what they say is an account from the night of the alleged gang-rape of a 16-year-old girl. Local Leaks, which uses and utilizes hacks and tipsters driven to the site from the hacktivist group known as Anonymous, posted what they say is a basic picture of what happened on the night in question which they say is derived "from a number of young people in Steubenville who were witness to various parts of this horrendous crime." Their account goes on to name specific people, but since we aren't privy to those documents or tips, naming those people without verification doesn't seem fair and we've redacted the names of the boys who are not facing charges.

(Update, January 8: Local Leaks speaks out — meet the hackers behind the Steubenville Files.)

Here's the first section of the newly posted report:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After being convinced, with some amount of coaxing – to attend the parties that night with the “Rape Crew” by by XXX’s girlfriend XXX, Jane Doe was picked up at a volleyball team party she was attending in the early evening of August 11th and transported in a vehicle with Richmond, XXX and XXX in it. Jane Doe was administered a “date rape” drug snuck into her drink almost immediately, possibly while still in the vehicle enroute to the nights “festivities”.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That sort of falls in line with what's been said. But we're not sure how someone knows for sure that the victim was snuck a "date rape drug." That's a dangerous implication and adds a sinister side of premeditation. As The New York Times Juliet Macur and Nate Schweber reported, because by the time the alleged victim went to the police "it was too late for toxicology tests to determine if she had been drugged." However, there were reports of the victim being drugged, according to Rachel Dissell of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The second portion reads:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In any case, she has no memories after being picked up. The first party of the night was at the home of Assistant Coach XXXXX, where XXXXX, XXXX, XXXXX, and XXXXX were already engaged in heavy drinking and drug use. At this location Jane Doe was raped multiple times by Richmond and Mays and at least two other assailants from the “Rape Crew”. At that point the “party” went on the move. They first stopped at another Assistant Coach’s home, Coach XXXX. XXXXX didn’t like what he saw, and asked them to leave. Once again, they hit the road with an unconscious Jane Doe in tow.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We know there was drinking. "Some in the crowd, which would grow to close to 50 people, arrived with beer. Those who did not were met by cases of it and a makeshift bar of vodka, rum and whiskey, all for the taking, no identification needed," reads the Times report. From reports we know there were multiple parties that night, but the apartments being at multiple coaches' houses have largely been unconfirmed.

Anonymous, from tips from Steubenvillers, has a theory that the boys involved had an apartment which they used for parties:

#KnightSec
@KYAnonymous

4401 the athletes used to party. It was known as "the apartment". I am told this is where the rape crew honed their skills.
3 Jan 13

And they're also claiming that a coach or coach's house was involved:
==================================================





Here's the next part:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While en route to XXXX’s house, Jane was again raped and sodomized in the back seat of a vehicle – and this was video recorded by XXXXX who was in the front seat. Her attackers in the car were again Mays and Richmond.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, again, knowing exactly what happened in the back seat would be hard for anyone that wasn't there. Though, this account jibes with what at least one witness told police. From the Times report:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That player told the police that he was in the back seat of his Volkswagen Jetta with Mays and the girl when Mays proceeded to flash the girl’s breasts and penetrate her with his fingers, while the player videotaped it on his phone. The player, who shared the video with at least one person, testified that he videotaped Mays and the girl “because he was being stupid, not making the right choices.” He said he later deleted the recording.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And the last part:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once they arrived at XXXXX’s house Jane Doe was carried to the basement where she was again raped multiple times by multiple attackers, one of which was XXXXX. Finally, having sated themselves and exhausted any further entertainment that Jane Doe could provide for these animals, she was unceremoniously dumped (still unconscious) onto the front lawn of the XXXXX residence – where at least one member of the “Rape Crew” proceeded to urinate on her.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Well there's obviously some editorializing there ("further entertainment" . . . "animals"). But tweets from that night confirm that people were, at the very least talking about the alleged victim being urinated on while unconscious. According to The New York Times report, the party didn't end with this girl on the front lawn. The girl slept on a couch in the basement of that home that night, with Mays alongside her before he took a spot on the floor.

The big takeaway from this report is that the account, from which is said to be gathered and confirmed from multiple sources, says there the girl was raped multiple times by multiple people and that the two Steubenville foortball players facing charges, Malik Richmond and Trent Mays, weren't the only ones involved.

Since the Times report last month, the reporting on this story has been driven by a kind of hacker vigilantism more than professional journalists. These new details may be unconfirmed, but they are the leads that the mainstream outlets who are headed for Ohio will be following.

==================================================


Well, here is one more article. I'll post more articles later.

This is really getting me down.

Anyway . . . . . One more.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/01/steubenville-high-football-rape-crew/60554/

==================================================



Everything You Need to Know About
Steubenville High's Football 'Rape Crew'



ALEXANDER ABAD-SANTOS | JAN 3, 2013

In the past 24 hours, the story of an alleged rape in the small, football-driven Ohio town of Steubenville has transformed from a local controversy with a curious social-media angle to an all-out Internet crusade, with potential cover-ups, allegations of prosecutors colluding with coaches, disgusting new video, and hackers to the rescue. Here's a primer on what looks like it may become one of the most emotional and controversial news narratives of the new year:

Update, Monday: Click here for continuing coverage of the Steubenvile rape case.

Update, Saturday, 3:29 p.m.: In the midst of an Occupy Steubenville rally, Sheriff Fred Abdalla and Anonymous came face-to-face, and city leaders set up their own "facts" website.

Update, Friday, 5:13 p.m.: Ohio State University has released a statement regarding the student portrayed in this week's viral video and identified by Anonymous.

Update, Friday, 12:08 p.m.: Tipsters have come forward, and the site LiveLeaks has put together what they believe is an account of what happened the night of August 11 when the alleged gang rape took place, which involves the alleged victim being drugged.

So there was a rape in this small town?

Well, it's not that simple, but allegedly yes: Two 16-year-old boys from Steubenville High are each facing a rape charge for the assault in August of a 16-year-old girl apparently from across the Ohio River in Weirton, West Virginia.

How come we're only hearing about this now?

Because a lengthy New York Times story on the case last month got lost in the spotlight on the Newtown school shootings, maybe, or because the Anonymous hacking collective started calling major attention to it this week.

But what makes this rape case different?

You see, Steubenville is the stuff of Friday Night Lights. The 19,000-person eastern Ohio town is a giant football community, and this alleged rape involves member of their storied Big Red team. "Everybody around here goes to games on Friday nights, and I mean everybody — people come for miles," a local told the Times's Juliet Macur and Nate Schweber. "It's basically the small-town effect. People live and die based on Big Red because they usually win and it makes everybody feel good about themselves when times are tough."

So how did this assault take place?

Well, back on the night of August 11, the alleged victim was at an end-of-summer party and had a lot to drink, police said, when Trent Mays and Malik Richmond allegedly approached her: "Richmond was behind her, with his hands between her legs, penetrating her with his fingers, a witness said," reported the The Times.

And how is that different from all the other assaults against young women in this country?

Here's the chilling part: the alleged victim didn't know she was assaulted until she started to find out about it on social media the next day.

Really? That's pretty gross. How did she find out?

Instagram, YouTube, and some pretty disgusting tweets. And the girl's mother told The Times that her daughter didn't even know the full extent of the attack until a local paper wrote about it the next day. On August 22, Mays and Richmond were arrested on charges of rape and kidnapping. The kidnapping charge has been dropped, and Mays is also facing a charge involving illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material. (Defense attorneys did not respond to requests for comment from The Atlantic Wire.)

Why only those two? They were at a party, right? And there were all those tweets?

Well, word spread among the students at or around the party quickly, and as the Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported, "Before the 16-year-old girl’s parents reported the crime to Steubenville police, many of the online posts had been deleted — or so students thought."

We live in an age when social media exists as evidence that can't just disappear, and Alexandria Goddard, who runs a crime blog called Prinniefied.com, turned up those deleted pictures from the night in question. Like this one:



What happened when that got out?

Goddard started posting on August 26, and attorneys for the student involved threatened her with a lawsuit October 25 — it was dismissed on December 27. But the local press had already picked up the story, and Goddard's site now carries the student Instagram photographer's apology:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I deeply regret my actions on the night of August 11, 2012. While I wasn’t at the home where the alleged assault took place, there is no doubt that I was wrong to post that picture from an earlier party and tweet those awful comments. Not a moment goes by that I don’t wish I would have never posted that picture or tweeted those comments. I want to sincerely apologize to the victim and her family for these actions. I also want to acknowledge the work of several bloggers, especially Ms. Goddard at Prinniefied.com, in their efforts to make sure the full truth about that terrible night eventually comes out. At no time did my family mean to stop anyone from expressing themselves online – we only wanted to correct what we believed were misstatements that appeared on Ms. Goddard’s blog. I am glad that we have resolved our differences with Ms. Goddard and that she and her contributors can continue their work.” – Cody Saltsman
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How come the other kids at the party didn't get in trouble? Isn't that aiding and abetting?

It's not like the cops didn't try: "The thing I found most disturbing about this is that there were other people around when this was going on," Steubenville Police Chief William McCafferty told the Times. "Nobody had the morals to say, 'Hey, stop it, that isn’t right.' . . . If you could charge people for not being decent human beings, a lot of people could have been charged that night."

So what happened to the social media evidence? Isn't this supposed to be a case of our times?

That's where the investigation — a preliminary trial is scheduled for February 13 — runs into problems. Despite all the Instagramming and social media sharing, Chief McCafferty told the Times that witnesses failed to come forward:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The city’s police chief begged for witnesses to come forward, but received little response. In time, the county prosecutor and the judge in charge of handling crimes by juveniles recused themselves from the case because they had ties to the football team.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And, well, some of the evidence went "missing":

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That player told the police that he was in the back seat of his Volkswagen Jetta with Mays and the girl when Mays proceeded to flash the girl’s breasts and penetrate her with his fingers, while the player videotaped it on his phone. The player, who shared the video with at least one person, testified that he videotaped Mays and the girl “because he was being stupid, not making the right choices.” He said he later deleted the recording.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Is anyone questioning the two boys' guilt?

Yes. About half the town of Steubenville, actually. Five months later, locals are still blaming the alleged victim for bringing the attack upon herself — she has been referred to on Facebook as "train whore":



During a court hearing on November 2, the alleged victim's mother told the court that her family and her daughter have received threats and were currently under police protection. And some, like one of Steubenville High's 19 football coaches, are blaming her for shaming the storied program:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The rape was just an excuse, I think," said the 27-year-old Hubbard, who is No. 2 on the Big Red’s career rushing list.

"What else are you going to tell your parents when you come home drunk like that and after a night like that?” said Hubbard, who is one of the team’s 19 coaches. "She had to make up something. Now people are trying to blow up our football program because of it."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If not everyone believes the rape happened, aren't the town's football allegiances going to get in the way of a fair trial?

Well, yes, there's this from the Times report: "the county prosecutor and the judge in charge of handling crimes by juveniles recused themselves from the case because they had ties to the football team."

Wait, is this some sort of cover-up?

Well, that's why the hacktivist collective known as Anonymous — and, more specifically, one of its cells known as Knightsec — got involved. The hackers, and their partners at the site Local Leaks, are "giving a voice to the victim of this horrible crime" by rounding up new information that the police haven't been able to — or at least that hasn't been made publicly available in advance of next month's trial. They seem to believe that there are more people involved, that there are more victims, that the accused are getting special treatment because they are football players, and that there's a bigger group of boys involved, which Anonymous has dubbed the "Rape Crew." Oh, and they've set up Occupy Steubenville protests too.

Why do they think there's a cover-up, exactly?

For starters, Steubenville High head coach Reno Saccoccia didn't even bench the players involved. The Times wrote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saccoccia, pronounced SOCK-otch, told the principal and school superintendent that the players who posted online photographs and comments about the girl the night of the parties said they did not think they had done anything wrong. Because of that, he said, he had no basis for benching those players.

. . . . .

Approached in November to be interviewed about the case, Saccoccia said he did not "do the Internet," so he had not seen the comments and photographs posted online from that night. When asked again about the players involved and why he chose not to discipline them, he became agitated.

"You made me mad now," he said, throwing in several expletives as he walked from the high school to his car.

Nearly nose to nose with a reporter, he growled: "You're going to get yours. And if you don't get yours, somebody close to you will."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So is the country prosecutor trying to get her son and his teammates off the hook?

That's one of many new alleged details Anonymous and Local Leaks claim they have evidence of, in a document dump that started Wednesday, which they're calling The Steubenville Files. We detailed the findings already, and we're not sure of their sourcing, but their leaks suggest that the football coach and the country Sheriff are friends. And even though the boys will now be tried as juveniles, they allege that Saccoccia has ties in the juvenile court system.

Wait, how many more people are involved in the assault?

The hackers allege that there are more than two boys who perpetrated the alleged crime and that there are more victims. On September 4, a second alleged victim of Steubenville High's "Rape Crew" came forward. Anonymous also suggest that one of the parties that the unconscious girl was dragged to actually took place at the county prosecutor's house. The leaks read:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When the family of the victim went to file the charges, Jane Hanlin [the prosecutor] was present. She strongly discouraged them from filing. Hanlin frightened not only the victim, but the parents as well. Telling them that her name was going to be dragged through the mud, she will be in and out of court for well over two years, the press wouldn't leave any of the family alone once the crime was made public. Scared out of their wits, the parents said they didn't want that and Hanlin then said not to worry just leave it up to her and the detectives on the case.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And the hackers even dug up this video that had been deleted, which we showed and warned you about yesterday, of a former Steubenville student laughing about the attack (warning: this is disgusting):



Should we trust this new info?

Anonymous is notorious for doing borderline criminal fact-finding with good intentions. Just by bringing more Internet attention to the case, they've already pushed it forward. They continue to ask for the witness accounts that the town police chief had been asking for but did not get.

But the kid in that video up there will have his name attached to this case for years to come. And while he might deserve it, there's also a question of vigilanteism, since Anonymous has already published the personal information of certain other students it's convinced belong to this "Rape Crew":



How emotional should everyone get about all this before the trial?

Well, just this week Congress failed to pass the Violence Against Women Act, which is supposed to help protect women against assault and encourage them to come out in public when assaults do happen. The bill's failure, for the first time since 1994, is sort of poetic.

But they may be coincidence. What's not is that Anonymous is claiming that CNN is about to add a lot more national news presence, for the first time since the Times story:

#KnightSec
@KYAnonymous
@cnn is in fact launching an investigation into steubenville the rumors are true, they are on the ground there now.

CNN probably won't be the only major organization booking flights to Ohio this week. Get ready for a lot more people to get emotionally invested in this case, and stay tuned as more details emerge.

==================================================

Well, I have spent about five hours working on posting these articles, and I'm tired, not just physically tired, but emotionally tired and exhausted, and I'm going to need to rest for a while.

OK, to quote from the above article . . . . .

"What else are you going to tell your parents when you come home drunk like that and after a night like that?” said Hubbard, who is one of the team’s 19 coaches. "She had to make up something. Now people are trying to blow up our football program because of it."

WOW! What kind of school has 19 coaches?

Of course, they're not all football coaches. The have basketball coaches, maybe a baseball coach, perhaps a soccer coach.

But 19 coaches? Don't tell me they have 19 different kinds of sports in a small town school!!!

I have to wonder . . . . . how many math teachers do they have? How many science teachers do they have? Ya know, like, chemistry teachers, physics teachers, biology teachers, geology teachers, or astronomy teachers?

How many of those to they have?

Every school I have ever been in had only one coach and an assistant coach.

But 19 coaches??? Come on!!!

Like . . . . . LET'S GET REAL!!! OK???

Not even the big universities have 19 coaches!!!

Yeah! That is one sports obsessed little two-bit town!

It's just one sports inspired rape scandal after another, like Notre Dame, Penn State, and now, Steubenville High School.

But, no doubt, there will be more.

It just keep on getting worse every fucking year!

I'm really getting tired of this bullshit!

Earl wrote:Big Fat Heretic, I want to personally extend a heartfelt thanks for all the work you have done to copy and paste all those articles. I really appreciate what you've done . . . . . etc. etc.

. . . . . generally speaking, football as a social institution is a moral cesspool replete with victims who are scorned and ignored. I am not able to fully comprehend how it must feel to be a rape victim and live with the realization that the community rushed to the defense of the . . . rapist(s). Such a rape victim must feel like the world is against her. Can you imagine what this must do to the self-esteem of the victims? How would you feel if it happened to you or your sister? I am amazed to know that a teenage boy or a young man can get away with committing rape simply because he is a . . . football player!

Earl wrote:P.S. Big Fat Heretic, I wanted to thank you for something in particular; but I forgot what it was. I had previously posted an OP entitled "Is Support For Gang Rape in Steubenville Generational?" The article featured an image of some kind of online communication by Amanda Jane Kellar Trippanti. I wasn't able to copy and paste it, but you have in your last post. So, I also thank you for that.

Football has been treated as a sacred cow for generations, and this is what we get.

Have you noticed the peculiar reactions of many football fans to these three situations?

1) Pedophile coach rapes young boys -- OUTRAGE

2) Professional football player tortures and kills dogs -- OUTRAGE

3) Teenage girl or young woman is gang-raped by local football players -- "Who cares?" "We don't want to hear about it!" "But football builds character!" "She's lying!" "She brought it on herself!" "She's a slut!" "You're anti-sports!" "You're hurting the team's chances of winning!"

So, in the minds of many football fans, young boys and even DOGS are more important than girls and young women. A rather interesting set of priorities, I must say!



There's an interesting article at Good Men Project entitled "When Football Championships are Bought with Silence" by Christopher M. Anderson. According to the biographical blurb, "Christopher M. Anderson is the Executive Director of MaleSurvivor the leading not-for-profit organization committed to preventing, healing, and eliminating all forms of sexual victimization of boys and men through support, treatment, research, education, advocacy, and activism." Here's a link to the article . . .

http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/social-justice-championship-trophies-bought-with-the-silence-of-victims/

. . . and here's a quoted excerpt . . .

The ethical distortion created by the incredible amounts of money generated by major college football was cited by the Freeh report as one of the reasons the Sandusky scandal occurred at Penn State. Hero worship of (and the financial boon created by) sports programs such as Division I football creates an environment where abuse and trauma are tolerated and excused. To be clear, neither football, nor sports itself, are responsible for alarmingly high rates of sexual and interpersonal violence in our society. However, it is undeniable that young men and women are abused by members of major university football programs at some universities. Oftentimes these survivors are shunned, re-victimized, and ignored by administrators and fellow students who are far more concerned about preserving the “integrity” of a sports program than they are about ensuring the victim of a crime gets the support they need. Exactly the same dynamic, sadly, as occurred at Penn State for decades, thus enabling Jerry Sandusky’s horrific crimes.

Disgusting, isn't it? Where's the compassion?

There are decent men in the world of football who are trying to change the culture.

They have a lot of work to do.

CNN grieves that guilty verdict ruined ‘promising’ lives of Steubenville rapists

CNN broke the news on Sunday of a guilty verdict in a rape case in Steubenville, Ohio by lamenting that the “promising” lives of the rapists had been ruined, but spent very little time focusing on how the 16-year-old victim would have to live with what was done to her.

Judge Thomas Lipps announced on Sunday that Trent Mays, 17, and Ma’lik Richmond, 16, would be given a maximum sentence after being found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl while she was unconscious. Richmond could be released from a juvenile rehabilitation facility by the age of 21 and Mays could be incarcerated until the age of 24.

CNN’s Candy Crowley began her breaking news report by showing Lipps handing down the sentence and telling CNN reporter Poppy Harlow that she “cannot imagine” how emotional the sentencing must have been.


Harlow explained that it had been “incredibly difficult” to watch “as these two young men — who had such promising futures, star football players, very good students — literally watched as they believed their life fell apart.”

“One of the young men, Ma’lik Richmond, as that sentence came down, he collapsed,” the CNN reporter recalled, adding that the convicted rapist told his attorney that “my life is over, no one is going to want me now.”

At that point, CNN played video of Richmond crying and hugging his lawyer in the courtroom.

“I was sitting about three feet from Ma’lik when he gave that statement,” Harlow said. “It was very difficult to watch.”

Candy then asked CNN legal contributor Paul Callan what the verdict meant for “a 16 year old, sobbing in court, regardless of what big football players they are, they still sound like 16 year olds.”

“What’s the lasting effect though on two young men being found guilty juvenile court of rape essentially?” Crowley wondered.


“There’s always that moment of just — lives are destroyed,” Callan remarked. “But in terms of what happens now, the most severe thing with these young men is being labeled as registered sex offenders. That label is now placed on them by Ohio law.”

“That will haunt them for the rest of their lives.”

Steubenville Rape Trial: Boys Who Watched Alleged Attacks To Testify

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS 03/15/13 11:45 PM ET EDT AP





STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — A judge granted three teenagers immunity from prosecution Friday before they agreed to testify about the alleged sexual assault of a drunken 16-year-old girl after a party in eastern Ohio last summer.

Mark Cole, Evan Westlake and Anthony Craig invoked their Fifth Amendment right against testifying for fear of self-incrimination as the trial in Steubenville entered its third day. Their testimony is a crucial part of the state's evidence because the West Virginia girl says she doesn't remember what happened.

Football players Trent Mays, 17, and Ma'Lik Richmond, 16, are charged with digitally penetrating the girl early Aug. 12, first in a car and then in the basement of a house. Mays also is charged with illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material. The two maintain their innocence.

Testimony in the trial wrapped up late Friday as a judge, who's hearing the case without a jury, pushed to finish the unprecedented case, which is continuing through the weekend. The accuser was expected to testify Saturday.

The case so far has featured disturbing testimony from teens, both in person and in graphic text messages, and has cast an unwelcome light on what students in the community once considered rapid-fire but private conversations.

The three teen witnesses granted immunity, as well as other teens who testified, winced at times Friday as they were forced to read adult language in texts sent several months.

Cole testified Friday that he took a video of Mays and the girl in the car, then deleted it. Westlake testified he saw Richmond's encounter with the girl in the basement. Craig testified about two photos of the alleged basement attack that he also deleted.

The case has riveted the small city of Steubenville 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 that suffered massive job losses with the collapse of the steel industry.

If convicted, Mays and Richmond could be held in a juvenile jail until they turn 21.

Cole, 17, testified that he filmed Mays digitally penetrate the girl in the car. A prosecutor asked him why he then deleted the video later that morning.

"It was one of those moments when you realize you did something stupid and wrong that night, so I deleted it," Cole replied.

Cole testified he saw Mays unsuccessfully try to have the girl perform oral sex on him later in the basement of Cole's house. Cole also testified that the girl was intoxicated and slurring her words.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Walter Madison suggested that the girl was behaving no differently than anyone else the night of the party.

Cole testified he saw Mays and the girl asleep under a blanket on the couch later in the morning.

"Did anybody behave in a way to make you think that something was wrong?" Madison, Richmond's attorney, asked.

"No," Cole said.

Westlake, the second witness granted immunity, testified that he saw Richmond digitally penetrate the girl in the basement of Cole's house.

"Was she moving?" special prosecutor Marianne Hemmeter asked.

"Not at this time," Westlake said.

"Was she talking?" Hemmeter asked.

"I didn't hear anything," Westlake said.

Westlake said the girl appeared to be "pretty drunk" after a large party earlier that night. But he also testified that before the alleged attack he saw Mays and the girl cuddling, hugging and kissing in Cole's car.

Westlake also confirmed that he filmed a 12-minute video – later passed around widely online – in which another student, Michael Nodianos, joked about the attack. Women's rights groups have demanded that Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine charge Nodianos with failure to report a crime. DeWine has so far refused to say what he'll do.

Westlake said he deeply regrets his actions that night.

Craig testified that he saw Richmond's hand in the "crotch region" of the girl, a less descriptive version than he gave last fall in another hearing.

Craig also confirmed he received a text message from the girl the next day in which she said "I remember hearing Trent's voice telling me to do something, but I said, `No.'"

A 16-year-old student testified that she tried to persuade the girl to leave with her and not stay at the party.

Farah Marcino said the girl brushed off her attempts. "She actually hit one of my friends and said she did not want to go," Marcino said.

Friday's testimony concluded with former Steubenville police detective Jean-Phillipe Rigaud describing how the department first learned of the allegation from the girl's family Aug. 14.

Rigaud said the accuser told him she remembered nothing about the evening except leaving an alcohol-fueled party, throwing up in the middle of a street a few minutes later, then waking up naked the next morning in the basement where she said one of the attacks happened.

Also Friday, the superintendent of Steubenville city schools responded to evidence presented a day earlier that suggested Steubenville football coach Reno Saccoccia would let the players involved off lightly.

The coach "took care of it," Mays said in one text introduced by prosecutors.

"Like he was joking about it so I'm not worried," Mays said in another text.

Michael McVey told The Associated Press on Friday that the district will wait until after the trial to comment. "We'll get everything down that comes out of trial, look at it and go from there," he said.

McVey said it's possible Saccoccia could testify.

The AP 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.

Steubenville: 2 arrested for threatening rape victim

7:57 PM, Mar 18, 2013





STEUBENVILLE -- Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine tells WKYC's Tom Beres two girls have been arrested for making social media threats against the victim in the recent emotional rape trial here.

"Let me be clear. Threatening a teenage rape victim will not be tolerated. If anyone makes a threat verbally or via the internet, we will take it seriously, we will find you, and we will arrest you," said DeWine.

Detectives with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office alerted the Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation to the online threats soon after Sunday's sentencing hearing concluded.

The Steubenville girls, 15 and 16, were both taken to the Jefferson County Juvenile Detention Center upon arrest.

The 16-year-old is charged with one misdemeanor count of aggravated menacing for threatening the life of the victim on Twitter.

The 15-year-old is charged with one misdemeanor count of menacing for threatening bodily harm to the victim on Facebook.

He said BCI, Steubenville Police and the Jefferson County Sheriff's office collaborated in the investigation.

Steubenville Police Chief Bill McCafferty said police arrested the two girls around 4 p.m. Monday.

A posted tweet from someone claiming to be a cousin of one of the convicted football players said, "You ripped my family apart, you made my cousin cry, So when I see you b##ch, it's gone ba a homocide.

Attorney General Mike DeWine told Tom Beres "We take any kind of threat seriously....Every rape case is a tragedy. Every rape case is difficult for the victim, but she has continued to be victimized by people in the social media."

DeWine said a grand jury will decide if anyone..football coaches, school officials, parents or teens...tried to cover up the rape to protect the community's proud football program.

"What I owe the people of Steubenville is two things. One of them is to get this over as fast as we can. But it's also important we get it over right," he said.

Sixteen people refused to cooperate with investigators.

"There certainly could be more charges...This will be many days and we will have many more witnesses."

At Cleveland's Rape Crisis Center, publicity about the Steubenville case is encouraging more women to call to report assaults, old and recent.

Center President Megan O'Bryan said, "We have seen a definite spike in calls."

Normally the center gets a couple victim calls per week. Lately it's been getting eight or nine calls per day.

"We're kind of hitting a tipping point where people are saying this behavior is not acceptable," she continued.

She supports DeWine's grand jury probe.

"Let's look at a system that may have silenced this or protected the perpetrators....If anyone tried to sweep this under the rug, I think they need to be held accountable," she declared.

The center is working with Steubenville schools to develop and implement rape prevention and education programs.

Many counties in Ohio lack a Rape Crisis Center counterpart.

Ohio does not fund such programs. DeWine said Wednesday he will release a study about that and suggested that may also include plans for new funding.

WKYC-TV