In a recent rape case in Steubenville, Ohio, a 16 year old girl was abused by a 16- and a 17-year-old football player. They were reported to have carried the intoxicated girl around "like a toy" and taken nude pictures of her as well as sexually assaulting her. They face at least one year in juvenile jail and could be held there until they are 21, with an additional year added on to their sentence for the distribution of the nude picture. Each boy was required to register as juvenile sex offenders and to avoid contact with the victim until they are 21 years of age. "Judge Thomas Lipps told the court that he reviewed the case's documents and text messages again. He said that many of the things learned during the trial were "profane" and "ugly." Lipps said the case showed alcohol "as a particular danger to our teenage youth" before finding the teens "delinquent beyond a reasonable doubt"" (NG). One reason why this rape was so prominent in the news is because many people accused the townspeople of Steubenville for defending the rapists because of their 'Football Hero' status instead of viewing them as guilty of injuring a young girl. The tearful testimony from the victim included that she was scared and embarassed after hearing about what happened while she was drunk. "I honestly did not know what to think because I didn't remember anything," she testified. The girl figured out what had happened from looking on Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, text messages, and talking to witnesses (NG).
Later on, two girls were charged with aggravated menacing for threatening the victim in the Steubenville case on Facebook and Twitter. Ohio Attorney Mike DeWine says, “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.” (James). The sheriff who arrested the girls explains why the threats had to be taken seriously, “If I just laid back and be lackadaisical and say, ‘Oh well, no big deal,’ and something happens, whose fault is it?” he asked. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.” (James).
Rape in the Media