On the off chance that you’re unfamiliar with the Steubenville Rape Trial, let me bring you up to speed. According to court findings a 16 year old girl drank too much and was digitally penetrated by at least two boys who were also 16. Other allegations exist and a grand jury is quite likely. A number of boys who were present struck deals with prosecutors and will not be prosecuted. Unlike their friends they will not be registered sex offenders. They are, however, sex offenders and they are dangerous people.
The reason we all know that Ma’Lik Richmond and Trent Mays are now convicted rapists is because in addition to the sexual assault he was convicted of Mays took pictures of a naked victim and circulated them on the web. That’s actually called child pornography.
Oh, there was also this guy Michael Nordianos and his twitter feed...
The mother of the victim spoke at the sentencing and I think her words to her daughter’s rapists merit repeating:
“It did not matter what school you went to, what city you lived in, or what sport you’ve played, human compassion is not taught by a teacher, a coach or a parent. It is a God-given gift instilled in all of us. You displayed not only a lack of this compassion but a lack of any moral code.”
She stops short of calling them evil. I don’t. When talking about her daughter the woman says:
“This does not define who my daughter is. She will perservere, grow, and move on.”
And with a mother like that I believe she will.
In the previous 250 words I have described to you two of the most detestable young men in America. They are convicted rapists who worked together to assault and humiliate a young woman. I’ve inserted almost no opinion.
On the other hand CNN (which is a network that’s typically above the fray) had two reporters on who did all they could revictimize the young girl. Candy Crowley starts her newscast by describing the boys as, “Two Star High School Football Players in Steubenville Ohio.” Well, before being remanded to prison they were football players so I suspect that is a fact.
Candy Crowley then asks Poppy Harlow to talk about the emotions in the courtroom. This is when I’m waiting for Ms. Harlow to talk about the victim’s mother and her statement or perhaps the anger of the bystanders, but no, Poppy Harlow talks about the ruined lives of Ma’Lik Richmond and Trent Mays. She also incorrectly reports their sentences as being 1 and 2 years when in fact those are minimum sentences. Juvenile court is structured differently.
At about 4 and a half minutes in Candy Crowley notes to Paul Callan (the CNN legal contributor) that a 16 year old was sobbing in court, her voice changes to an almost maternal tone while she shakes her head and seems to have a difficult time stating that the two convicted rapists are what the courts have deemed them to be. She says, “What’s the lasting effect though on two young men being found guilty in juvenile court of [pause] rape essentially.”
Forgive me Candy, did the judge say, “Rape essentially.”?
Well, for at least a year and up to five years no girls in Steubenville will be raped by these two young men. Hopefully they won’t assault anyone in detention but I think we all know that is a very real possibility. For the rest of their lives these two men will register as sex offenders and the towns they live in will be somewhat safer knowing the identities of the men who have raped before.
During sentencing Trent Mays said, “I would truly like to apologize. No pictures should have been sent around, let alone have been taken.”
Yes, we all know that if you’re a high school football player the lesson learned here is to never instagram your sexual assaults. Perhaps Candy and Poppy can teach a class on that for the next round of poor young boys who have their promising football careers cut short by a slutty girl who dares to drink to much.
Sadly there will always be rape.
I’m hopeful that one day there won’t be women like Candy and Poppy who seem to believe that rape victims ruin the lives of football stars.
Two Steubenville high school football players accused of raping an allegedly drunk 16-year-old girl were found guilty Sunday.#CNN
— Poppy Harlow (@PoppyHarlowCNN) March 17, 2013
“I would truly like to apologize. No pictures should have been sent around, let alone have been taken.”
It all irks me, but this really bugs the living F out of me. This statement makes me believe he’s not sorry for the act, only sorry he got caught.
THANK YOU. I just saw the posting about this on Gawker and can’t even wrap my head around it. I know there are laws to protect the victim which limits some reporting (ie, they can’t show her in court), but SERIOUSLY?! We’re supposed to feel compassion for these monsters? Because really…16 or 46, they committed a heinous act and still don’t feel remorse- they’re just sad that their perfectly planned lives as football stars are ruined. Too bad they can’t get a longer sentence for selfishness and complete disregard for the consequences of their action in the life of their victim(s), since they’ve certainly demonstrated that. It’s all “poor me” for these assholes and CNN is just supporting that. In the meantime…I can’t even imagine how that poor girl must feel knowing these guys could be back in as soon as a year. Ugh.
When I read that Trent Mays said, “I would truly like to apologize. No
pictures should have been sent around, let alone have been taken.” I was
dumbfounded. I mean like someone said he’s NOT sorry it happened, he’s
sorry that he was caught. I can’t believe the way these WOMEN are taking
this case. This poor girl, my heart goes out to her and her family!
Holy cow. I’m a human and I find what those reporters “reported” to be nothing short of illegal with how appalling their collective disregard for her is. News shapes so much of the ‘general consensus’ and the liberal nature of how it is disseminated to us scares me more and more everyday. So CNN really took the position of “poor future football stars” basically. Wow. Consider me shocked Jessica.
I heard some people talking about this at work today and all I kept hearing were things like “Why in the world was she drinking?” “Where were her parents?” “Why was she out with them?” Never ONCE did anyone say “What made these two boys think it was okay to sexually abuse a young woman in ANY STATE OF MIND?” It disgusts me.
Also, no one criticizes the BOYS for drinking and partying. Talk about a double standard, all other things aside.
They make them look like martyrs, what about the girl???
What the fuck is wrong with CNN? This is insane.
I watched that report in horror. We are all rightly disturbed at how both the rape culture and football culture permeate our society. The fact that the rapers do not really comprehend what they actually did wrong (‘no pictures should have been taken’?!? omg!) is disturbing enough. But, when ADULTS do not get what the problem is, we are on dangerous ground. We want to teach teens (male and female) to be careful and to respect each other, stop violence and other crimes, but CNN and FOX and many of the adults in this situation show how far we have come from basic human decency. Should we be surprised that the kids do not even know what rape is, are so quick to blame the victim? Look how their ‘role models’ act: the cops, coaches, parents and an international slew of ‘concerned citizens’ standing up for the rapists and threatening anyone who tries to mess with Football and Male Sexuality. Candy and Poppy are women who have also been targets of sexism and misogyny by stupid pundits and other talking heads. Why are they perpetuating the idea that the victim should be ashamed of herself? OK, I know this is long, but Ugh! (ps:good post)
I tried to not jump to conclusions so I read the transcripts twice. Nope. Can’t find anything to help me see from the CNN reporters’ perspectives. There is another news outlet that tried to make this a “teachable” moment for “young people and social media”, implying that if the rapists had not shared the photos etc online, they wouldn’t have been caught. SRLY?!