Four more charged in Steubenville rape case!

[Sheldon Cooper]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/25/justice/ohio-steubenville-rape-case/index.html?sr=fb112513bnrapecase11

A grand jury investigating the 2012 rape of a 16-year-old girl in Steubenville, Ohio, has indicted four more people in the case, including the school superintendent, two other educators and an assistant football coach, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said Monday.

This brings to six the number of people the grand jury has indicted after two students were convicted in March of rape, DeWine said.

Superintendent Michael McVey was the only one of the four to be charged Monday with felonies: a count of tampering with evidence and two counts of obstructing justice. He also is charged with two misdemeanors: making a false statement and obstructing official business.

A school teacher and an elementary school principal were charged with failure to report child abuse or neglect. A volunteer assistant Steubenville football coach, Matt Belardine, was charged with four misdemeanors: allowing underage drinking; obstructing official business; making a false statement; and contributing to the unruliness or delinquency of a child.

It's about damn time!!

[geek tragedy]

1. Good thing there's no such thing as rape culture nt

[seabeyond]

4. yup. stupid damn ass argument as we see it over and over and over again. nt

[jsr]

2. Superintendent charged with felonies

Good news.

[seabeyond]

3. this is what we need. THIS.... yes. we have to stop the backlash, and THIS will do it. nt

[Sheldon Cooper]

6. I think there were early reports about an assistant coach

seeing those young men carrying the unconscious victim around, and his contribution was to tell them to take her elsewhere. Didn't step in to help her, didn't reprimand the men, just told them to take her elsewhere. I've always wondered who he was and what happened to him - to display such an utter disregard for another human being is astounding. I hope he is one of the ones indicted here, and I hope enough comes out to upgrade his charges to felony status.

[chervilant]

10. Did you know that 54%

Last edited Mon Nov 25, 2013, 03:19 PM - Edit history (1)

of male college students surveyed admitted they would rape a woman, if they were certain they wouldn't be caught.

[eggplant]

17. Really. Got a link to that? n/t

[chervilant]

19. Yes, and I recommend that you watch the entire documentary,

and share it with others.

[eggplant]

27. Apparently I didn't go to that college. n/t

[chervilant]

31. Unfortunately,

this is a pernicious risk for young college women--date rape is seriously under-reported, and most campuses do very little to protect their at-risk students (which includes LGBT students who find themselves in abusive relationships).

[bettyellen]

41. most colleges do what they can to squash reporting of rapes on campus, it is horrible

[QuestForSense]

18. I'm not disputing it, but that percentage is so hard for me to believe.

But I'm way over the hill, and have never met or known a rapist my entire life. In my experience, most men wouldn't consider raping a woman any more than they would killing her; they just aren't filled up with that much repressed rage. It happens, but I wonder if these young guys are confusing having sex with rape, a horse of a way different color. Either way, it makes me very sad.

[eggplant]

28. I've only known one (that I know of, obviously)

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-01-11-178310559_x.htm

I worked with the guy about twenty years earlier. He seemed perfectly benign (which of course was part of his MO).

[QuestForSense]

35. Gosh, how that must have shocked you!

[eggplant]

39. Yep. It floored everyone at the place we worked together.

And it really makes you question things that you take for granted. Was he just as messed up back when I knew him, or did something happen to him? Who else do I know that seems perfectly normal but is actually a sociopath? Shouldn't I have been able to tell?

Scary stuff indeed.

[chervilant]

30. For over thirty-five years,

I've been an advocate for survivors of relationship violence. I can assure you that sexual violence towards women is widespread, and the consequences are devastating.

What isn't often acknowledged is that the patriarchal objectification of women -- of making women 'less than' -- is damaging to our entire species. Men should have myriad reasons to reject patriarchy as a socio-cultural construct--beyond acknowledging that being awarded 'power over' women does not result in satisfying or fulfilling emotional and sexual intimacy.

[QuestForSense]

36. The Steubenville case highlights how prevalent the objectification of women really is.

It has a lot of parallels with racial prejudice, e.g., children pick it up in the home.

[chervilant]

32. For more information, please

consider reading:

Against Our Will (Brownmiller)

Ending the Silence (Thorne-Finch)

The Mermaid and the Minotaur (Dinnerstein)

AND, anything else you can find that will help you understand why we must do everything we can to end patriarchy and relationship violence.

[Locrian]

50. dominator society

Have you read any of Riane Eisler' books, especially "The Chalice and the Blade"? Very interesting historical (thousands of years) perspective of how we got to the dominator culture we have today.

http://www.rianeeisler.com/books.htm

In domination-oriented systems, men are socialized to distance themselves from women and anything stereotypically considered feminine. But in partnership-oriented cultures, men can give more value to caring, caregiving, nonviolence, and other traits and activities deemed inappropriate for men in dominator societies because they’re associated with “inferior” femininity.

[chervilant]

53. Yes, thank you, I have Eisler

in my personal library. I hope that more men are understanding that 'domination-oriented' systems are harmful to all.

[Locrian]

56. yes - and women too

The level of brainwashing that all of us has been exposed to is deeper than most realize. To the point that people can't even imagine w/o a bias from their past /history.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

51. also read "Our Guys"

About football worship and the gang rape of a mentally disabled young woman in a New Jersey town.

Not an easy read. I think the case happened in the 80's and the rapists ended up being cleared in court--or received the most minor sanctions.... I can't remember exactly. But it was upsetting.

Anyway, the book provides a full analysis of the football-town culture, the young woman, the rapists, the legal case.....

[chervilant]

54. Thanks, I'll look for that one.

Have you seen "The Bro Code" documentary? Quite unsettling.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

55. no, hadnt heard of it.

I'll have to Google on that. Thanks!

[bettyellen]

42. from my experience, rapey types hide it well from the good guys who might spoil their fun

and cluster in groups with other misogynists that pretty much agree that" it's not rape if... she passed out, kissed you once, "sleeps with everybody", etc etc." In some subsets of men, that all is still part of their belief system- like it was at Stubenville HS, where the football team was allowed to take over.
I just watched a John Hughes teen movie from the 80's and was shocked the "good guy" passes off his drunken former GF to another kid to have a go at since she is passed out, and he does. It is a treated as a joke. Those boys were the were sympathetic characters- the girl was painted as a shallow slut. This was seen as normal in the 80's. I know it didn't seem remarkable 30 years ago.

[QuestForSense]

43. They DO hide it.

Sports is supposed to help build a boy's character. Those boys on the football team had grown men coaching them in that 'belief system' you've described, and even running interference for them when things turned sour. But the victim, that poor girl, is STILL buried on the bottom of the pile.

[seabeyond]

15. absolutely. that was a HUGE piss off for me in this whole thing. why i did not except this should

go away with just two boys accused, prosecuted and convicted. it is so much bigger than this. i believe this takes it to five.

i really want to see what happens to the prosecutor whose son was involved and the head coach.

and the sheriff... that one more iffy, from my memory.

[Comrade Grumpy]

26. DeWine said the grand jury's work was done.

[UtahLib]

5. I agree, it is about damn time! n/t

[In_The_Wind]

7. Kick for visibility!

[gordianot]

8. Oh the ruined lives, I am waiting for CNN to offer their sympathy to the football team having fun.

[niyad]

9. certainly took them long enough.

[Stargazer09]

13. Agreed

But I'm willing to be patient if it means a stronger case against the people who enabled the rape to happen.

[Whisp]

11. I want to see the head coach, whatshisname, go down.

He's the whale in this whole ugly thing.

[Stargazer09]

16. Oh yes

I completely agree that he played a huge role in all of this. He deserves jail time and a ruined life.

[Stargazer09]

12. I hope they won't be the last

There are plenty of other people involved in this case. I hope the guilty ones are panicking right now.

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

14. Fantastic,

let the flood gates open!

[Sheldon Cooper]

20. The Post-Gazette is reporting that the grand jury is done, and no other charges will be filed.

http://www.post-gazette.com/hp_breaking/2013/11/25/AP-4-indicted-including-superintendent-in-Steubenville-rape-case/stories/201311250150

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said the grand jury's work is done and no one else will be charged. He said others in the case who sent texts and pictures about the assault or talked about it acted stupidly, but the grand jury was unable to charge them with specific crimes.

I suppose we should be thankful for what we got out of this, but I'm not clear on how the people who were texting around pictures of the victim can get away scot free. Isn't that distribution of child porn?

[Blue_Tires]

29. That's kind of sad, because a lot more than 4 people had a role in the cover-up...

[MicaelS]

21. Excellent!

I thought there would be more indicted.

[840high]

22. About time.

[City Lights]

23. This is excellent news!

Thanks, Sheldon!

[NuclearDem]

24. About damn time!

Now let's see the same thing for Marysville.

[mbperrin]

25. Good, but could only wish there were going to be more.

But getting the superintendent ought to make the assholes pucker on those in charge the next time something like this happens.

[Gothmog]

33. I am glad for these indictments

I believe that more people should have been charged but this is a good start

[appleannie1]

34. It took them long enough

[sheshe2]

37. "the school superintendent, two other educators"

superintendent of schools

Web definitions
In education in the United States, a superintendent of schools is a person who has executive oversight and administrative powers, usually within an educational entity or organization.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superintendent_of_schools

Educators

a person or thing that educates, especially a teacher, principal, or other person involved in planning or directing education.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/educators?s=t

Seriously, these people are disgusting.

[Marrah_G]

38. It's about damn time.

[Liberal_in_LA]

40. good

[Skittles]

44. I hope others will think twice before they protect the interests of rapists

it's got to stop

[tofuandbeer]

46. It's insane! I can't believe this happened!

[seabeyond]

45. hey, look, boys that like their rape porn, too.... yup. nt

[NealK]

47. K&R

[ReRe]

48. Now we need to watch what happens...

... out in Maryville, MO. New girl in town makes friends with freind of big brother, sneaks out to party, and ends back up on her front porch half frozen to death after being raped. Don't remember all the particulars. Was in Noddaway County, MO. Up in the northwest part of the state.

[arely staircase]

49. I wonder if Candi Crowly and CNN will do a special on how devastating rape is

for the rapist.

[TBF]

52. OK, that's a start. I see they got asst. coach - but

where is head coach in all this? Totally oblivious to everything going on?? *rolls eyes*