(Updated) Following a four-day rape trial that took place in juvenile court, Judge Thomas Lipps handed down his verdict this morning in the case of two teenage Steubenville High School football players accused of raping a drunken 16-year-old girl at a party last Aug. in Ohio. The judge found 17-year-old Trent Mays and 16-year-old Ma'Lik Richmond guilty of rape, according to U.S. News.
The case brought world-wide attention to the football town of Steubenville, Ohio and widely divided the community. Adding fuel to the fire of controversy were photos and videos uploaded to various social media sites showing the intoxicated 16-year-old victim from West Virginia being assaulted while onlookers at the party did nothing to intervene.
Mays and Richmond had both been accused of “using their fingers to vaginally penetrate the girl at an alcohol-fueled party in Steubenville,” first in a car and then in a house.
Additionally, Trent Mays was accused of sending text messages after the rape that depicted nude images of the 16-year-old victim. His additional charge included distributing nude images of a minor, according to ABC News.
The 16-year-old girl testifying at the trial claimed to being “embarrassed and scared” after hearing that she was sexually abused by the boys, and that she had been too drunk to remember the incident.
"I honestly did not know what to think because I didn't remember anything," she testified.
Both Mays and Richmond broke down in tears when the verdict was handed out. Both of the teens apologized to the victim’s families.
Due to their ages, the boys only face possible maximum prison sentences in juvenile jail until they are 21 years old.
Even after their release, both boys will have to register as sex offenders in the towns where they live.
For more on the verdict, see the video accompanying this article.
Also see:
Accused child rapist and murderer receives jailhouse beatdown
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