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 Linda Thomas
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bigred.jpg
The group Anonymous recently released a video allegedly detailing the story of a rape victim in Steubenville, Ohio, and naming those it claims were involved.(August 31, 2012 photo by Joshua Gunter, The Plain Dealer)

Anonymous seeks justice for high school rape victim

January 3, 2013 @ 7:29 am (Updated: 3:52 pm - 1/4/13 )

We all know a place like Steubenville High School in Ohio. It has about 700 students. It's football team, Big Red, is a big deal and the jocks on the team own the town.

On August 22, 2012 a group of football players who called themselves the "rape crew" began taking advantage of an underage girl.

The 16-year-old girl was drugged, sexually assaulted, molested, raped, and transported from one party to party to another. Teen boys raped her, photographed her and bragged on social media about what they'd done.

Two members of the school's football team were charged with rape of a minor.

There was always a feeling in the community that more teens were involved in the crime, but no witnesses came forward. There was a feeling that school authorities protected the young men, but no one talked. There was always a feeling that there should be more justice for the victim, who survived.

Now there might be.

A 12-minute video was posted online showing the "big red" high school football players talking about what they'd done. They joke, they laugh, they discuss how "out of it" the young victim was.

WARNING: This video includes graphic, obscene language.

The video, posted by Anonymous, the online hacker group, fresh from its victory over Westboro Baptist Church, has a new cause.

I wrote about Anonymous recently when they systematically shut down Westboro's planned protests of the funerals of Sandy Hook Elementary shooting victims.

Now Anonymous has released police documents leaked about the case, saying, "This is a warning shot to the school faculty, the parents of those involved, and those involved especially."

In its own video, Anonymous lists all the names of the football players and says it will not sit idly by and "watch a group of young men who turn to rape as a game or sport get the pass because of athletic ability and small town luck. You now have the world looking directly at you."

Anonymous, the collective name of loosely-affiliated individuals that participate in hacktivism, is inserting itself into the criminal justice system as police continue to investigate the case, and before a trial of the two accused rapists.

By LINDA THOMAS

More from Linda Thomas

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Comments (21)


  • Add A Comment

  • Bobbie123 wrote...
    Just TRAGIC
    January 3, 2013 8:02 am
    What I just seen is one of the most disrespctfull things ever. You boy's are NOT winner's let's try BUMS. Actually what you did is probably the only way you could ever get sex (without approval). And the parents need to be Ashamed . Thank you for the group that is not turning their back on this poor little girl.
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  • sportsguru wrote...
    I hope they
    January 3, 2013 8:02 am
    all go to jail so they can be raped by men and then urinated on. They all think this is funny. Nice parents these kids have.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Ted Jones wrote...
    Good for anonymous
    January 3, 2013 8:40 am
    and great story, Linda. Keep 'em coming.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Nervoso wrote...
    Anonymous is hot right now
    January 3, 2013 9:17 am
    it's the big story, they are injecting themselves into high-profile cases (or in some cases, making stories high-profile by injecting themselves). You should follow them on twitter, very interesting to observe what they are doing, whether legal or not.
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  • Stevebo wrote...
    So here's the problem I have with this group...
    January 3, 2013 9:26 am
    While I understand their reasons, their motivation is flawed. There's a reason why we have laws against vigilantism.

    So the scenario is this: Police perhaps are building a case against other football players (and perhaps possible people that covered it up). "Anonymous" leaks evidence to the public in order to seek "social justice" - and in the process, ruins any feasible case prosecutors could make.

    Again, I'm not against the intent of the group - but I think their methods re dangerous and flawed.

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  • Nervoso wrote...
    I think everyone understands why we have laws
    January 3, 2013 9:52 am
    no need to reiterate that...the reason this is interesting and why Anonymous got involved is because the story was being swept under the rug, and the townspeople were covering things up, setting up a perverted justice to begin with. Now no matter what these kids are going to feel the repercussions of what they did.
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    The football team partially comprised of (alleged) rapists is called......
    January 3, 2013 10:11 am
    the "Big Red"? Talk about a double entendre.

    Somebody needs to suggest to those boys that they need to keep those little red roosters out of the hen house, especially when the chickens say "no!" or have been too doped up to either protest or give effective consent.

    Strangest of all, some of the (alleged) cretins will think they had "sex" with the (alleged) victim while she was incapacitated. Maybe when they get older they will appreciate there's a difference between having sex and merely using Big Red to assault an unwilling victim.

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  • HockeyMom wrote...
    This is so sick!
    January 3, 2013 12:58 pm
    I cannot imagine if I ever heard or seen one of my children talking and joking about something like this. I pray these kids parents get them some immediate help because they all have serious issues.
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  • sghouse wrote...
    What should make everyone uncomfortable
    January 3, 2013 1:01 pm
    ..is that what is seen in the video is fairly standard "jock" attitude no matter where you are; jocks everywhere are spoiled, entitled Adam Henries and even more so if they are "winners".

    Of course not all are rapists, but there are many who would not throw a teammate under the bus if it might cost them a win.

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  • scallywag wrote...
    Ethics
    January 3, 2013 2:05 pm
    Anonymous has also acted out in other instances to administer its particular brand of vigilante justice, as for example in the Amanda Todd suicide case. At present, debate about ethics, Anonymous taking the law into its own hands and potentially incriminating and violating the privacy of those individuals for simply expressing a point of view no matter how palatable that point of view has once again risen to the fore. Nevertheless it is becoming increasingly apparent the degree of power (rightly or wrongly) social media is having on bringing justice to the fore outside of traditional forums. http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2013/01/steubenville-high-school-students-joke-about-rape-in-video-leaked-by-anonymous/
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  • fartforce1 wrote...
    not sure what I would have done if I was there,
    January 3, 2013 5:14 pm
    would I have killed all five of them football players or just burn them beyond recognition. You dont need to know how, just know that people like me make people like them not safe.
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