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social media:
Social media was a key factor in prosecuting the two rapists involved in the Steubenville, Ohio rape case. Social media was used throughout the night to document what had actually happened during the night of the rape in summer 2012. With the victim unconscious and unaware of what really happened the judge had to rely on the substantial amount of evidence from social media posts by the rapists themselves, and their friends who posted along with them throughout the night. These posts included pictures uploaded to Instagram, tweets posted on Twitter, and a video uploaded to YouTube. There are reportedly more pictures and videos that did not get uploaded, and were later deleted from cell phones and iPads when the victim pressed charges. The police ending up confiscating fifteen phones and two iPads to find further evidence that the rape truly occurred that night.
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instagram:
Instagram is a picture sharing website were one makes a profile and one can upload pictures from their phones to share with friends whom follow them. On the night of August 11th Instagram was used to share a picture of the seemingly unconscious victim being carried by her wrists and ankles. The two reportedly carrying her are Ma’Lik Richmond and Trent Mays. The picture, since been deleted, was screen-capped and used as evidence that the victim was in fact unconscious and unable to give consent. The photo has two likes after just being posted for four minutes. The picture was uploaded by Cody Saltsman, who just happens to be the victim’s ex boyfriend. She had reportedly broken up with him recently, and he replied saying you don’t break up with Cody Saltsman and that she will pay for what she did to him. He also allegedly messaged the victim's father calling the victim a whore (Fecker). This picture, according to the time at the top of the screen cap, was posted around one in the morning. The accused (and now convicted) rapists explain this picture as being staged. They say she was conscious, and that she was just joking around while it was being taken. Their story was she pretending to be unconscious and unresponsive just for the photo. The caption Saltsman used for the photo was sloppy, and he then tagged someone in the picture, but it has been blurred out to keep the identity hidden. The picture above was a major factor in determining the validity of the victims story that she was, in fact, unconscious, and she could not give consent to the sexual acts that occurred to her on the night of August 11th. Witnesses say that she was comatose by the end of the first party, and the two boys carried her to the following parties like a rag doll. Cody Saltsman has since apologized for putting this picture on Instagram, but not for the heinous acts that happened to the sixteen year old victim that night.
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twitter throughout the night:
Another form of social media that was used throughout the night was Twitter. Twitter is a social media website where one can post and read text message-like updates of up to 140 characters. These posts are known as tweets, and were a good indicator of what really occurred the night of August 11th in Steubenville. Most of the tweets were coming from the twitter tag of @nodidamus or better known as Michael Nodianos. His twitter was deleted after the victim pressed charges, and the only tweets the public can now see are the ones that people screen-capped before he deleted everything. Michael tweeted many times throughout the night, and some of them are really disturbing. The picture above shows some of his tweets throughout the night, but these are only the ones that were not deleted before someone was able to take a picture of them. The first one in the picture above reads you don’t sleep through a wang in the butthole. This exact sentence is also heard in the YouTube video below. If this tweet is an accurate statement of what happened that night then the victim really was raped, and there should not be any question as to whether she was able to give consent. If she was sleeping, as Michael puts it in the tweet, than she was in no way able to consent to any sexual advances by the football players.
Michael also tweets about seeing a dead body. If this is also a true representation of what the victim was like that night, than there is no way she was able to consent to anything. The case made by the defendants was that the victim was fully aware of what was happening, and that she was a willing partner in everything, but the tweets say otherwise. If the victim was “like a dead body” she could not consent to anything, therefore their argument is not valid.
Michael also tweets about seeing a dead body. If this is also a true representation of what the victim was like that night, than there is no way she was able to consent to anything. The case made by the defendants was that the victim was fully aware of what was happening, and that she was a willing partner in everything, but the tweets say otherwise. If the victim was “like a dead body” she could not consent to anything, therefore their argument is not valid.
twitter after the trial was over:
Twitter was also used even after the trial was over and the verdict was confirmed. People who were outsiders in the whole rape trial, who did not know all the facts, were blaming the victim for being raped. The tweet to the left says remember kids, if you're drunk/slutty at a party, and embarrassed later, just say you got raped! Many people are victim blaming, and saying it was her fault because she was
Photo 11 drunk. All people seem to worry about is the fact that now these two football players cannot play college football, and that their lives are basically ruined. What they need to be thinking about and put into consideration is what the victim has to go through for the rest of her life. Jane Doe now has to live with the fact that not only was she raped, but that everyone knows it. Also, everyone saw it. There will forever be pictures of her on the internet, and the YouTube video below will always be a constant reminder of what happened that horrible August night.
Photo 11 drunk. All people seem to worry about is the fact that now these two football players cannot play college football, and that their lives are basically ruined. What they need to be thinking about and put into consideration is what the victim has to go through for the rest of her life. Jane Doe now has to live with the fact that not only was she raped, but that everyone knows it. Also, everyone saw it. There will forever be pictures of her on the internet, and the YouTube video below will always be a constant reminder of what happened that horrible August night.
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Another example of the tweets Jane Doe had to deal with after the trial was over is shown in the picture above. The tweet reads Steubenville : Guilty. I feel bad for the two young guys, Mays and Richmond, they did what most people in their situation would have done. The people who are posting these tweets are either ignorant when it comes to the facts of the case, or they are showing favoritism because these young boys can no longer play football. The victim has to deal with the fact that not only was she raped while she was unconscious, but that no one seems to care or be on her side. Victims are supposed to have the support of their community and the law enforcement, but in this case it was the opposite. The rapists have the sympathy of the community, and are backed up by most for their actions.
twitter threats:
Two mean girls, as the site refers to them, threatened Jane Doe for coming forward and ripping her family apart. The tweet to the left was posted by the cousin of Richmond, and she is only sixteen years old. The other girl who was threatening the victim was only fifteen years old at the time. The
Photo 13 original tweet without the whiteout reads you ripped my family apart, you made my cousin cry, so when I see you b- it's gone be a homicide. This specific tweet help in the arrest of two teenage girls for threats against Jane Doe. Tweets started to pour in Sunday after the two football stars were convicted and charged with rape. According to The Washington Post the sixteen year old was charged with one misdemeanor count of aggravated menacing for threatening the life of the victim, and the fifteen year old was charged with one misdemeanor court of menacing for threatening bodily harm to the victim (Reese).
Photo 13 original tweet without the whiteout reads you ripped my family apart, you made my cousin cry, so when I see you b- it's gone be a homicide. This specific tweet help in the arrest of two teenage girls for threats against Jane Doe. Tweets started to pour in Sunday after the two football stars were convicted and charged with rape. According to The Washington Post the sixteen year old was charged with one misdemeanor count of aggravated menacing for threatening the life of the victim, and the fifteen year old was charged with one misdemeanor court of menacing for threatening bodily harm to the victim (Reese).
youtube:
Another form of social media that was used during the night was YouTube. YouTube is a video sharing website were anyone can make an account and upload video of almost anything they want. The video above was captured on a partygoer's cellphone, and show Michael Nodianos making fun of the victim. Michael is also the one who was posting most of the tweets throughout the night. The video is very hard to watch, and it has many heinous parts that make it impossible not to be upset while watching the video. Throughout the whole video they refer to Jane Doe as a dead girl, which like the tweets he posted confirm that she was totally unconscious. Michael, or as they call him in the video Nodi, makes references of dead people. For example, he says, "she's deader than Andy Reed's son. Thats how dead she is. She's deader than OJ's wife. She is deader than Caylee Anthony." All the while he is saying these horrible things the person filming and him are both laughing and looking pleased with themselves. He talks about them raping her in the video. He says, "they put the wang in the butthole." He admits to them raping Jane Doe, and in the background one can hear the other boys saying Mays and RIchmond raped a girl. The boys in the back say they are going to go help the victim, and Michael says, "right now what they are doing is they're trying to help a dead girl." He then goes on to joke about it saying, "that is like trying to help wood turn into stone." The whole video is proof that the victim was in fact unconscious and raped during that August night. Michael even specifically says that they raped her. An unknown male in the back says, "Trent and Ma'Lik raped someone." The people in the back say Nodi you're probably gonna go to jail, and he just laughs about it. These football players think that they are untouchable and they never thought that raping a girl would get them in trouble. The people in this video, and the people involved in this case do not care about the well being or safety of the victim. They are using it as another way to praise their football players, and to blame the victim.
After this video went public people were appalled at Michael's actions, and he eventually dropped out of Ohio State University.
After this video went public people were appalled at Michael's actions, and he eventually dropped out of Ohio State University.