Oh dear god - Steubenville Ohio footballer rape case

Do any of you know 'The Onion' ?

gawker.com/5991175/this-two+year+old-onion-story-perfectly-predicted-cnns-shocking-steubenville-rape-trial-coverage

I am sickened beyond words...

officialblog.michaelcrook.org/2013/03/travesty-of-justice-in-steubenville.html?m=1

The third paragraph contains this phrase: I don't believe for one second that "rape" exists.

WARNING: Reading this blog entry will make you want to track down who this man really is, get a flight to where he lives and hit him. And I don't usually advocate violence of any sort, but having read this, that's how I felt.

NB: On his Twitter (@Michael_Crook for anyone interested) he says he's from upstate New York.

Going to try and calm myself down now.

It's good to see better coverage on the Steubenville case in the links above.

There is talk that this could be a watershed moment in how rape is treated, especially when they "hero" footballers are involved, but the attitudes of the media and many Americans, shows how much work there is to do.

I spoke to my American relative today - the one who was raped by a "star" footballer on her college (university) football team - and none of the reaction has put her off carrying forward with her criminal complaint. She knows that if and when it gets to court, she'll probably experience a similar response in the (local) press and from the wider public, but she is prepared for that.

It is disgraceful though, that women have to prepare themselves to be 'slaughtered' in the press, just because they've dared to proceed with their complains against these "star" athletes in schools and colleges.

I agree they are only sorry they got caught.

CNN's reporting has been disgusting. Apparently they actually had a headline saying 'Realizing rape is a crime'. FFS. The NYT, which broke the story nationally and the Atlantic Wire have had pretty decent reporting on this. Here is a pretty good article about what happens next in terms of who can potentially also be charged.

The comments on those sites are also better.

It is also reassuring to see that the Ohio Attorney General knows where it's at: he's made some very sensible statements which clearly identify and attack rape culture. I think he is going to go after everyone he possibly can.

I am so pleased (and surprised) they have been found guilty but utterly horrified and depressed at the disgusting attitude towards rape.

They are remorseful, of course they are!
They are beyond sorry they got caught.

What a lot of these unsupportive mysogynist victim blaming parents (like the lady with 4 daughters mentioned above) need to remember is that in our society because of the way our society is structured, it is more likely to be a daughter rather than a son who will be choosing your nursing home.
So perhaps these "parents" need to stop and think before treating their daughters so appallingly and with such mysogynistic attitudes.

God, that is horrifying.

I will try to teach my daughters not to go out and get totally and utterly plastered to the point they cannot remember the night. But that is because it makes them vulnerable to all sorts of things - I have no illusions that it will protect them against rape. And if I had sons, I would be trying to teach them the exact same lessons on behaviour.

Rape myths are just so prevalent aren't they. This woman wasn't assaulted because she was drunk. She was assaulted because the people she was with chose to commit a sexual assault. And that woman who thinks she can 'protect' her daughters against rape by teaching them not to drink. She'd statistically be doing more to reduce their odds by teaching them to spot red flags in a relationship.

I am still trying to work out what I think about the law classifying digital penetration as rape and whether I think we should have those rules.

Towards the end of the third paragraph, that should read... they'll magically become less like to be raped. I reworded it a few times and the final time, I deleted some of a rewording, but forgot to change it to read what I wanted it to say.

Curse MN and it's lack of being able to edit!

Abigail - oh no, I hadn't seen that her name was outed on Twitter, I've just between tweeting (as have many, many others) #ISupportJaneDoe. The former shows the worst side of social media.

Amanda - the most terrifying thing is, if you look at any US media site (whether it be a TV station like CNN or even a "trashy" gossip magazine like People), there are regular Americans saying the same thing.

I saw one woman say, "I'm going to raise my four daughters not to go out and get drunk, and to be always be in control of their situation, so they don't allow themselves to get raped." I don't know what worries me more. The fact she thinks if she raises her daughters to not get drunk and be "in control", they'll magically become less likely to rape, or that she thinks that any rape victim allows it to happen.

Many of the comments I've seen, have made my heart sink (and some comments are from UK residents, especially on UK sites like the Hate Mail), and have made me realise just how much work there is still to do (to change rape attitudes). It made me want to cry.

I agree with the comments on the apology stuff. Didn't the father of one of those convicted say he was proud of him for apologising. Yes, I'd be dead proud too if that was my son. (Lisianthus - understandably, the victim wasn't in court to be apologised to. Not, obviously, that such an apology means anything, but I think that's why it was directed at the parents, who were present).

Freedom - that article is horrid. "Labelled" as sex offenders? No, they are sex offenders.

I believe the victim's name has been outed on Twitter too.

The articles do seem to be set up to garner sympathy for the rapists, which is appalling. The other thing that I found awful was that they reported (as if it was a good thing showing decency on the rapist's part!) that one of them apologised to the victim's parents. Never mind apologising to the victim. She's just a "drunken girl" who presumably asked for it. No, its her parents who have really suffered here.

What is even more disturbing is, that it appears the US media have largely been leading with 'oh no, these poor boys, this verdict has ruined their promising lives' kind of way, with no mention of their victim and how her life has been affected.

See this report about CNN's coverage

What makes it even more alarming, is in CNN's case, these are female journalists.

I've already tweeted the two women involved (Candy Crowley and Poppy Harlow) to point out that it isn't the verdict that has ruined Mays and Richmond's "promising" lives, they ruined their "promising" lives by choosing to rape.

Thanks for the extra info, Phyllis.

I absolutely don't buy the crap about them being remorseful.

Literally just stumbled across the article. Am shocked.

I took the crying in court to be pity for themselves rather than any sign of remorse.
I approve of the way that the net has made it more difficult to keep certain things 'in house'

It's the BBC - what do you expect?

Awful. Plus the town is 'divided' meaning some obviously think she 'asked for it' actually going to a party and getting drunk. That poor girl. And in my view the article attempts to buy sympathy for the accused by leading with the fact they were crying in court.

The trial took place in the county, but it was not a jury trial, and the prosecutors and judge were not local. The local ones recused themselves and a very experienced judge and prosecutors from out of town were brought in. I think these things were probably key to securing a conviction, and I am very relieved they were found guilty.

It also shows the power of social media for good.
From the BBC website :

'The case was thrust into the national spotlight after attention by bloggers and the hacker activist group Anonymous.

Some claimed that the community - including local police - had sought to cover up the crime to protect the accused, who were members of a celebrated high school American football team'

Without that, they could well have got off scot-free as the case was tried in Steubenville. Incidents like this must have been swept under the carpet for years in so many towns.

I think that it is great news they were found guilty.

They have not been sentenced yet, 1 year is the minimum they have to serve.

A panel will set the term at a later date.

First of all - the reporting is off on this, and secondly the juvenile justice system in the US is significantly different from that of the UK, where anyone over the age of criminal responsibility (10) is tried in a normal court.

In most states, you are tried in a juvenile court up to the age of 18 (the age does vary a bit). Sometimes if the case is serious enough it can be heard in an adult criminal court, but that did not happen in this case - it was in a juvenile court (hence no jury). In juvenile courts, the proceedings are civil, not criminal, but the court can have broad powers over the offender if they are found delinquent (guilty). So the sentencing guidelines are different because it is not an adult criminal court - rape is a category 1 felony in adult court, but is a lower category offence in a juvenile court. And the sentence was not one year, it was one year and two years minimum, maximum until they are both 21 - which is what they will probably get. That decision is up to the state youth justice service. And it looks as though further charges may be brought against more people.

I do wonder whether the State went for a non-jury trial in a juvenile court on the basis they were more likely to get a conviction than with a jury trial in the adult system.