COLUMBUS —
The head football coach at Steubenville High School and the owners of a house where an infamous 12-minute video was filmed could be investigated as Ohio prosecutors look into how adults responded to allegations of rape last year.
One day after a judge convicted two high school football players of raping the 16-year-old girl in August, Steubenville’s top official said she welcomed a new, wide-ranging probe into possible wrongdoing connected with the rape.
The announcement of the guilty verdict was barely an hour old Sunday when state Attorney General Mike DeWine said he was continuing his investigation and would consider charges against anyone who failed to speak up after the summertime attack. That group could include other teens, parents, school officials and coaches for the high school’s beloved football team, which has won nine state championships.
According to trial testimony, one of the two football players said the coach knew about what happened and “took care of it.”
The video, passed around widely online, depicted a student joking about the attack. “She is so raped right now,” the boy says.
Investigators interviewed the owners of a Steubenville house where the video was filmed, which was also the same place a photograph was taken of the girl being carried by her ankles and wrists, DeWine’s office confirmed Monday. That picture, Exhibit No. 1 at the trial, generated international outrage. There is no phone listing for the home.
Numerous students, including defendant Trenton Mays, referred to the girl as “dead” in text messages the night of the attacks, apparently in reference to her unconscious state. The girl, who acknowledged drinking, testified she had no memory of the assaults.
A grand jury will meet in mid-April to consider evidence gathered by investigators from dozens of interviews, including with the football program’s 27 coaches, which include junior high, freshman and volunteer coaches.
Text messages introduced at trial suggested the head coach was aware of the rape allegation early on. Reno Saccoccia “took care of it,” Mays said in one text introduced by prosecutors.
DeWine said coaches are among officials required by state law to report suspected child abuse. Saccoccia has not commented.
The case brought international attention to the small city of 18,000 and led to allegations of a cover-up to protect the Steubenville High School football team.
Steubenville city manager Cathy Davison said residents want to see justice done, and the city will be better off going forward because of the wider investigation.
“Football is important in Steubenville, but I think overall if you looked at the community in and of itself, it’s the education process, the moral fiber of our community, and the heritage of our community, that is even more important,” Davison told The Associated Press.
Steubenville schools Superintendent Mike McVey released a statement Monday reiterating his position that the district was waiting until the trial ended to take action. He declined to address the grand jury investigation.
“What we’ve heard so far is deeply disturbing,” McVey’s statement said. “At this time, we believe it is important to allow the legal process to play out in court before we as a school district make any decisions or take action against any of the individuals involved with this case.”
It’s unclear what could happen to the school’s sports programs if coaches were charged. Sanctions against teams or programs typically involve violations of rules related to playing, such as improper recruiting of student-athletes or playing ineligible athletes, said Tim Stried, spokesman for the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
“The incident that happened was not during a contest, was not even at school. No playing rules were violated, and it didn’t have anything to do with eligibility or recruiting,” Stried said.
Mays and Ma’Lik Richmond were charged with penetrating the West Virginia girl with their fingers, first in the back seat of a moving car after a mostly underage drinking party on Aug. 11, and then in the basement of a house.
Mays, 17, and Richmond, 16, were sentenced to at least a year in juvenile prison for the rapes. Mays was ordered to serve an additional year for photographing the underage girl naked.
They can be held until they turn 21.
Special Judge Thomas Lipps recommended the boys be assigned to Lighthouse Youth Center-Paint Creek in Chillicothe. The Ohio Department of Youth Services contracts with the secure, residential center. Lipps said it had a strong program for treating juvenile sex offenders.
World, nation, state
Related Photos
-
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, right, answers questions about the successful prosecution of two juveniles in a rape case during a news conference Sunday, March 17, 2013, at the Jefferson County Justice Center in Steubenville, Ohio. Prosecutor Brian Deckert and Prosecutor Marianne Hemmeter joined DeWine. Judge Thomas Lipps ruled Sunday that Steubenville High School students Trent Mays, 17, and Ma'Lik Richmond, 16, were guilty of raping a 16-year-old Weirton, W.Va., girl after an alcohol-fueled party in August 2012. (AP Photo/Steubenville Herald-Star, Michael D. McElwain, Pool)
Discussion
Ohio AG could target football coach, host of party
- World, nation, state
-
-
Power of Moore tornado dwarfs Hiroshima bomb
Wind, humidity and rainfall combined precisely to create the massive killer tornado in Moore, Okla. And when they did, the awesome amount of energy released over that city dwarfed the power of the atomic bomb that leveled Hiroshima.
-
Russian mice, gerbils dead in 30-day space ordeal; lizards live
A crew of Mongolian gerbils may have gone where no Mongolian gerbil has gone before, but they did not come back alive. A Russian spacecraft filled with mice, lizards and other animals has returned to Earth - but with the majority of its furred passengers apparently dead.
-
Jodi Arias asks jury to give her life in prison
Jodi Arias asked jurors Tuesday to give her life in prison, saying she “lacked perspective” when she told a local reporter in an interview that she preferred execution to spending the rest of her days in jail.
-
Cleveland kidnapping suspect’s 3 dogs go to foster care
Three dogs seized from a Cleveland man charged with holding three women captive over a decade have found a foster home.
-
Photos: Aftermath of massive tornado in Moore
Storm victims were pulled from the rubble and residents began surveying the damage late Monday and early Tuesday in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, where a powerful tornado destroyed entire neighborhoods and left dozens dead.
-
Crews race to find survivors of Oklahoma twister
Emergency crews searched the broken remnants of an Oklahoma City suburb Tuesday for survivors of a massive tornado that flattened homes and demolished an elementary school. At least 24 people were killed, including at least nine children, and those numbers were expected to climb.
-
Small company stock are a bright spot
Small-company stocks were a bright spot in a subdued start to the week for Wall Street.
-
Military sex abuse has long-term impact for vets
New government figures underscore the staggering long-term consequences of military sexual assaults: More than 85,000 veterans were treated last year for injuries or illness linked to the abuse, and 4,000 sought disability benefits.
-
Medical examiner: 24 dead in Oklahoma twister
Emergency crews searched the broken remnants of an Oklahoma City suburb Tuesday for survivors of a massive tornado that flattened homes and demolished an elementary school. At least 24 people were killed, including at least seven children, and those numbers were expected to climb.
-
Rescue efforts ongoing as grim scene emerges after tornado
After darkness fell over this tornado-stricken city on Monday night and Tuesday morning, rescuers confronted a strange and grim tableau. Trees were wrapped with aluminum and downed powerlines ran over streams from broken water mains. In a city with so many ruined homes - and at least 51 dead after an enormous twister cranked through the southern Oklahoma City suburb - call after call for victims went without answer. “First responders! Do you need any help?” shouted one nurse who picked through a home without a roof and without a door.
- More World, nation, state Headlines
-
