steubenville, ohio

Steubenville, Ohio – Ground Zero

A Case of Legitimate Rape

In August of last year, members of the Steubenville, Ohio High School football team raped a heavily intoxicated 16 year-old West Virginia girl.  Those who did not actively participate stood by and did nothing.  No, actually they did worse than nothing.  The bystanders memorialized the event in photographs and video for social media and it was shared across the Internet.  When the men were formally accused, a town rallied around the football team, called them the victims and vilified the girl involved.  A community moved to cover up the crime.  It may have gone completely unnoticed by mainstream America had it not been for the activist hacker group known as “Anonymous” and crime blogger, Alexandria Goddard.

This morning, after four days of testimony,

 

alleged rapists

The “alleged” delinquent rapists

Judge Robert Lipps declared the two men ultimately charged with the crime as being “delinquent of rape”, the juvenile version of Real, Adult, Legitimate Big Boy Rape.  The media is still referring to it as an “alleged” rape.  I’m uncertain at what point, if ever, the acts deserve consideration of a bona-fide actual rape.  17 year-old Trent Mays and 16 year-old Ma’lik Richmond were tried as juveniles.  Mays was also convicted of a second felony charge of using a minor in nudity oriented materials for taking and distributing photographs of the victim in states of undress.  When the verdict was read, both men began sobbing.  Judge Lipps sentenced Richmond to a minimum of one year incarceration in a juvenile facility.  Mays was sentenced to a minimum of one year incarceration in a juvenile facility for the rape, and one year for the second felony, to be served consecutively.  Lipps called Mays’ crimes “more egregious” than Richmond’s.  Both men have been ordered to “avoid contact” with the victim until they turn 21.  After that, I guess it’s okay for them to contact her.  Excuse me for a moment while I puke.   Seems the girl didn’t get off so easily – I’ll get to that in a minute.

pic from cell

From the cellphone of another Steubenville High School football player. Is it me, or does this woman look unconscious?

Let’s go back and look at a timeline of the events, as found on the website of WTRF-TV (the ABC affiliate) from Steubenville, Ohio.  Please note, the parentheticals are mine:

08/14/2012: The parents of the victim file a report with the Steubenville Police Department; two days later police seize cell phones and iPads from possible witnesses to the alleged rape.

08/22/2012:  Two 16 year-old boys are arrested at their homes between one and two in the morning.  They are both football players at Steubenville High School.  Jefferson County Prosecutor Jane Hanlin and Juvenile Judge Samuel Kerr both recuse themselves, citing a conflict of interest.  Kerr asks that a visiting judge be appointed and the Ohio Attorney General’s office is called in to prosecute the case.    Both men are charged with kidnapping as well as rape, illegal use of a minor and handling materials containing nudity.

08/29/2012:  The Ohio Supreme Court appoints retired Judge Thomas Lipps, of Hamilton County.

10/12/2012:  Judge Lipps rules that there is probable cause for rape charges during a hearing.  Those testifying include three students who admit to text messages and taking pictures the night of the alleged rape; all three are suspended from extracurricular activities.  **OH NO!  NOT SUSPENDED FROM EXTRACARRICULAR ACTIVITIES!**

11/01/2012:  First, Judge Lipps rules that the defendants will be tried as juveniles; both are released under home arrest.  **Good call, Judge, because rape should be considered “kid stuff”.

12/23/2012:  The international hacker group “Anonymous” hack a fan website, Roll Red Roll.  Anonymous alleges a cover-up in the case.

12/30/2012:  Occupy Steubenville holds the first of three rallies in the support of the victim, “Jane Doe”.

01/02/2013:  A video is released of a former Big Red student, Michael Nodianos, joking about the rape.  Several groups call for Nodianos to be charged as well.  **It was a 15-minute laugh riot where he was extolling the virtues of his heroic teammates and referring to the victim as “dead girl”.  He couldn’t stop laughing hysterically with his friends throughout.  I posted that video in a previous column.

01/30/2013:  In response to allegations from “Anonymous,” the City of Steubenville creates “SteubenvilleFacts.org“.  City Manager Cathy Davison says that the website it about being transparent with the facts. Judge Lipps denies a defense motion for a change of venue.  **That ought to give them grounds to appeal that the trial was unfair.

03/12/2013:  A press conference is held before the trial begins.  Hancock County Judge Ronald Wilson issues a ruling Tuesday evening allowing three West Virginia juveniles to testify in the Steubenville juvenile rape case.  **Including two teenaged girls invited to testify that the victim engaged in regular excessive alcohol use, was a serial liar and a whore.  If you can find any teenaged girl in America without two mean girl classmates willing to say the same thing, regardless of her virtue, please, send the alleged virgin to me.

03/16/2013:  The trial continues through the weekend to accommodate the judge’s schedule.  Closing arguments are given and the judge announced he would issue his verdict the following day.

03/17/2013:  Both are found “delinquent” of rape and sentenced.

tweets

Tweets from those who “shared” on Social Media

Immediately after the verdict was read, there was no rejoicing.  My friend, and fellow rape survivor Beth Maciel told me:

“And [they] cried. I want to be bigger, more elevated than the contempt I feel. I want to heed all the words of wisdom that help me to stay calm. Act on the knowledge that I have the absolute power to choose what affects me, both positive and negative. I believe those things. I do.  AND…. I can’t erase from my memory what it feels like… first, to be raped physically, then to be raped metaphorically, by society. And lastly, to be raped by the inability to read this without a point of reference. Because when I read it, my memories still carry his smell and the measure of the weight of his body. Those things just don’t go away. Ever. I have been imprinted.  I hold this entire town responsible, for first teaching and then cradling young monsters in their care. Fuck them all.”

I asked her permission to quote her without using her name to protect her privacy.  After thinking about it for a while, she told me to use her name.  She decided she was at peace enough with her experience to “come out” about being raped.

“I think it’s time I do it for myself, here. Because, although I was victimized, I am no longer a victim. I am a whole woman. And it is more than okay for me to talk about it now.”

I never cease to be amazed by the profound bravery of other women.  Beth, you moved me to tears this morning, my valiant friend.

shaming

When will we stop with the “slut shaming”?

Beth and I and rape survivors everywhere experienced a very visceral reaction upon hearing this verdict because we understand how easily these men, not boys, men got off.  We also know that the victim in this case will never be so lucky.  A good deal of the four days of this trial was spent impugning the character of this young woman.  She was labeled a drunk and a liar and a whore.  It was stated clearly that although she was intoxicated enough to have to be carried by the rapists by her wrists and ankles to a waiting car, she was somehow present enough to “want it”.  It was stated that her past behaviors were enough, even if she was unconscious, to free these men of any charges because this was a woman of loose morals.  She was referred to throughout the case as a woman and they were referred to as boys.  She knew what she was doing was wrong and somehow, they did not.  The slut shaming continued throughout the trial.

As empty as this verdict may seem, still, it’s something.  Not one bit of it would have been possible without the phenomenon of social media.  Teenage gossip is no longer passed around in whispers and paper notes; it’s digitally memorialized for all of eternity on someone’s Facebook wall or Twitter account. The parents of the victim arrived at the police station with a flash drive full of social-media postings that suggested the young woman had indeed been assaulted.

I’ll say it again, because it needs to be said.  Women are not raped because of what they drink.  Women are not raped because of what they wear.  Women are not raped because of where they are.  Women are not raped based on prior activities.  Women are raped because someone chooses to rape them. Rape is a conscious choice on the part of the rapist.  He could choose to do the right thing.  Instead, he chooses to take something that does not belong to him.  Bystanders could choose to do the right thing and stop it.  Watching a sexual assault is not a photo op.  It’s the opportunity to do the right thing, and in this case, everyone on the periphery failed miserably and was given a pass.  The videographers who attempted to cover their tracks after the fact were given immunity in exchange for telling the truth.  They should be condemned not for telling the truth, but for their failure to stop it, to revel in it after the fact and for taking a “get out of jail free” card.  Everyone is a loser in this case.

Steubenville is nothing more than a microcosm of America – the verdict, reflective of American attitudes on women.  We legitimize women when we stop excusing the bad behaviors of men.

This is a pox on our collective house.

*Editor’s Note:  No apologies will be made for including the name of “alleged” juveniles accused of “alleged” crimes when said “alleged” juveniles gave media interviews including their names and “alleged” unobstructed faces.

UPDATE:  The verdict is 4 hours old – the following photo is a compilation of screen shots from Tweets that include death threats against the victim.  Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury… I rest my case.
tweets carol

Carol Baker is a free-lance political writer.  She is a regular contributor to Here Women Talk.

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