Article by: Scott Hall(docplocky@gmail.com)
Readers, you will need your truth glasses and maybe some straps to help keep them upon your brow as CNJ, particularly, this author has learned of yet more than just corruption going on in our own heartland, the Geo-location, Ohio. Before your eyes, you will see and be reminded of what the justice system, power and potential corruption, frivolous lawsuits and ugly crimes all have in common and be warned now, an image following this opening paragraph will be graphic in nature, so if you are under 18 or have some sort of hang up or opposite view of this, stop right here, right now and if you are only reading this article just to see it, then be gone as well as this is not an entertainment platform, we are criminologists who take these items very seriously and our readers are entitled to know the truth about what is going on in their own homeland and abroad, so with that said and out of the way, let’s turn our attention to Steubenville, Ohio that according to http://www.ci.steubenville.oh.us/ is:
Steubenville, the county seat of Jefferson County, sits on the banks of the mighty Ohio River and is a city steeped in rich history and tradition. Known as the City of Murals, Steubenville is home to almost twenty thousand citizens. Founded in 1797, Steubenville is a family friendly community with safe neighborhoods and excellent schools which offer a wide variety of educational opportunities.
The City of Steubenville is a full service city with numerous services and recreational facilities. We are very strongly committed to residential and commercial economic development. This site established to bring city services closer to the citizens so solutions to their concerns may be found more quickly. This author says, put your truth glasses on and prepare for the test of this town’s glowing overtures.
The City of Steubenville is a full service city with numerous services and recreational facilities. We are very strongly committed to residential and commercial economic development. This site established to bring city services closer to the citizens so solutions to their concerns may be found more quickly. This author says, put your truth glasses on and prepare for the test of this town’s glowing overtures.
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR-0ApjIvzt5ECXsIzpRKv7PLBcXj0t5FPKjQFdKen2W6r6oPup7A
In almost every region of the world, crime continues to plague and disrupt the lives of citizens, crimes such as theft, burglary, assaults and the like are probably too common and most often overlooked unless there is something rather heinous attached to its title, such as “A woman today was beaten to death and found along the railroad tracks” at which point, the thought of the crime raises eyebrows. Police corruption, frivolous law suits, crimes being defended in cover ups and deceit are also common in certain places in our society. In Steubenville, one would think it would be no different, especially when the laws that govern that area include marking known (registered) sex offenders, (http://www.city-data.com/soz/soz-43952.html) this is significant in that it demonstrates how “serious” the region is about protecting its citizens, with one nationally known flaw, a rape case where the alleged perpetrators used digital media to capture and produce the images into social networks, including You Tube and Twitter and yes, this comes with several twists and turns, finger pointing and blame but in its core, a crime in a town that refuses to believe its eyes and the alleged perpetrators family threatening law suits against anyone who reports on this case or reshares the names or media used by themselves initially, including bloggers and truth reporters.
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| University Blvd. - Steubenville, Ohio (Photo credit: Dougtone) |
To be clear, the perp’s are pissed at people reporting and sharing things that they themselves made public and are threatening to sue anyone who speaks or repeats those images or names about this case, in particular bloggers about crime and truth. Considering this case involves juveniles, I can also appreciate the need to protect the names of those persons, however, those names are already publicly known, thanks again to digital media and the law suits has drawn more attention than the victim herself, truly sad. When this case was brought to the attention of this author, including the reported story about what happened inside this quaint and pretty little town, a long discussion took place, not about whether or not to rewrite and reshare the particular story of the case, that research will be left up to our readers with little more than an overview here, but in particular what it is that is actually being contested by the families of the alleged perpetrators and before this goes further, I will remind our readers a more important person is missing in this whole equation, the victim who was humiliated on several national platforms, along with the actual rape taking place itself, this is not healthy for the victim to have this going on and on as far as the psychological impact, but it is healthy for the justice system, which should be throwing the perpetrators in prison instead of focusing on the right of freedom of speech.
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| Official seal of Steubenville, Ohio (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
First, the background about this case: August 24, 2012 around the border of Pennsylvania and Ohio in a sports minded town, reports began unfolding of charges pending that included Rape and Kidnapping against two 16 year old boys, who just happened to play for “Big Red” High School. The alleged incident happened at a party where their victim was: Urinated upon and possibly drugged or at the very least had consumed something that made her “disoriented and confused” when her parents finally got to her at the hospital. Facts that solidified what had allegedly occurred, included several transmissions across social platforms, like twitter, where several followers of the boys and comments followed, including some nasty references to the girl’s position and condition.
Here is where this crime and situation gets out of hand, I myself can appreciate that families would want to protect their children in the event of items such as these but have to question their motives when they decide to pursue law suits against persons who report on the very same things that have drawn national attention, in particular citing Jane and John Does in their claim, bloggers who have, in plain English, hurt their reputation by doing what they love and letting the public be informed, much like the sex offenders registry, yet that entity isn’t being pursued. Rights such as “Freedom of Speech”, “Freedom of Expression” are only the first two that come to the forefront of thinking about how difficult it will be for them to attack those very freedoms upon the defendants. The next item that comes to mind, once the perpetrator’s shared those items with their buddies (known or not personally) on a social platform, the information contained becomes open to the public and cannot be controlled as to where it ends up, who can guarantee that anything on the internet is “gone” once deleted or “taken down”, no one for there are too many computers around to guarantee it can be done or that it can be stopped, not to mention the bits of data spread throughout several severs or the free programs that allow persons to download the video’s reformat them into new file form and then share them abroad, but that is another article to be processed. The perpetrator’s families have decided to sue against those reasons and some other miscellaneous items, again, with the availability of the news on this, the research into this case is also open to the public and we here at CNJ are disgusted that any court room in any part of the country, would allow this type of challenge to go on, when it is NO secret of what occurred, including major media outlets that have also reported upon this.
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| Map of Ohio highlighting Jefferson County (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Lets take a moment to see what Ohio Law says about Digital Media and using it in the same platform applied to the young lady who suffered this crime, in the Ohio Revised Code, 2907.02 (http://law.justia.com/codes/ohio/2006/orc/jd_290702-875f.html) it states:
(A) (1) No person shall engage in sexual conduct with another who is not the spouse of the offender or who is the spouse of the offender but is living separate and apart from the offender, when any of the following applies:
(a) For the purpose of preventing resistance, the offender substantially impairs the other person's judgment or control by administering any drug, intoxicant, or controlled substance to the other person surreptitiously or by force, threat of force, or deception.
(b) The other person is less than thirteen years of age, whether or not the offender knows the age of the other person.
(c) The other person's ability to resist or consent is substantially impaired because of a mental or physical condition or because of advanced age, and the offender knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the other person's ability to resist or consent is substantially impaired because of a mental or physical condition or because of advanced age.
(2) No person shall engage in sexual conduct with another when the offender purposely compels the other person to submit by force or threat of force.
(B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of rape, a felony of the first degree.
In regards to the media that was “shared”, this author thinks maybe the courts should also consider this law for pondering, including the alleged perpetrator’s family when it comes to their own Son’s misguided actions on the internet, where in it states:
2907.322 Pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor.
(A) No person, with knowledge of the character of the material or performance involved, shall do any of the following:
(1) Create, record, photograph, film, develop, reproduce, or publish any material that shows a minor participating or engaging in sexual activity, masturbation, or bestiality;
(2) Advertise for sale or dissemination, sell, distribute, transport, disseminate, exhibit, or display any material that shows a minor participating or engaging in sexual activity, masturbation, or bestiality;
(3) Create, direct, or produce a performance that shows a minor participating or engaging in sexual activity, masturbation, or bestiality;
(4) Advertise for presentation, present, or participate in presenting a performance that shows a minor participating or engaging in sexual activity, masturbation, or bestiality;
(5) Knowingly solicit, receive, purchase, exchange, possess, or control any material that shows a minor participating or engaging in sexual activity, masturbation, or bestiality;
(6) Bring or cause to be brought into this state any material that shows a minor participating or engaging in sexual activity, masturbation, or bestiality, or bring, cause to be brought, or finance the bringing of any minor into or across this state with the intent that the minor engage in sexual activity, masturbation, or bestiality in a performance or for the purpose of producing material containing a visual representation depicting the minor engaged in sexual activity, masturbation, or bestiality.
(B)(1) This section does not apply to any material or performance that is sold, disseminated, displayed, possessed, controlled, brought or caused to be brought into this state, or presented for a bona fide medical, scientific, educational, religious, governmental, judicial, or other proper purpose, by or to a physician, psychologist, sociologist, scientist, teacher, person pursuing bona fide studies or research, librarian, clergyman, prosecutor, judge, or other person having a proper interest in the material or performance.
(2) Mistake of age is not a defense to a charge under this section.
(3) In a prosecution under this section, the trier of fact may infer that a person in the material or performance involved is a minor if the material or performance, through its title, text, visual representation, or otherwise, represents or depicts the person as a minor.
(C) Whoever violates this section is guilty of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor.
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| Steubenville, Ohio (Photo credit: Dougtone) |
So, let’s review, Steubenville Ohio, when one goes to their “home page” to see what might actually be there waiting for them, they will see a serene setting, feel welcome to the home of 20,000 persons and maybe think it is a quiet and quaint little town, but in reality and not including a track record of corruption in their own police departments (http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2007/12/26/judicial-retaliationohio-style/)
a place where the most attention given is to those who report the same truths as revealed here, within this article and themselves being sued by a family, who in this author’s opinion is ignorant and confused themselves about what their boys did to a young lady, which is truly sad as the victim (who shall remain nameless) and her family (who shall also remain nameless) are under the most stress as this will carry far into her future, establish a vexing curtain against a pure soul in a bad situation where not just the crime of rape or distributing a media condusive to child pornography, but should also be charged with bullying, aggravated sexual assault and countless other charges insuring that this quaint, quiet football town realizes that there is more at stake than a simple football program’s reputation or a school’s hero’s or even a boys right to have the media they posted taken down. There are real lives, real hurt and real problems and I for one stand with the bloggers being sued in support of their rights to the defense of the freedoms mentioned in this article, note: Should the alleged perpetrators wish to include this author in their guise to intimidate or punish persons for reporting on what is known, my email address is at the top, our website is #1 in most listings and I welcome the challenge to defend our freedoms in any court platform, even if “En Pro Se”. One last thought, to “defame” someone, means in essence that someone has brought undue harm to one’s reputation by causing irreprehensible damage by transmitting falsehoods or mis-statements in regards to their character, briefly reviewing, those who have been charged are the catalyst for the reports and the undue harm to themselves, wonder how that will play out in court. Peace to our readers, truth glasses down.
References, Readings, News Stories:
http://www.hsconnect.com/page/search.results?keywords=Steubenville+Rape+case&btnWebSearch=Search&startDate=&endDate= This includes the time line of where the case is
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