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 A grand jury on Monday charged a school superintendent and three
others with lying or failing to report possible child abuse after an
investigation prompted by the rape of the West Virginia girl by two
high school football players.
"This community is rectifying the problem. This community is taking
charge. This community is fixing things. This community is holding
people accountable," Attorney General Mike DeWine said. "That's what
this grand jury did."
The investigation included crimes committed in connection with the
case against two members of the celebrated Steubenville High School
football team as well as a separate alleged rape that happened in
April 2012, four months before the assault that drew nationwide
attention over allegations that prosecutors should have charged more
players.
Hacker activists helped propel coverage of the rape case and press
allegations of a cover-up, including reposting of a 12-minute
Internet video made within hours of the attacks in which a former
Steubenville student joked about the victim.
DeWine convened the grand jury to look into the behavior of school
administrators and other adults in the community after the two
players were convicted last March. Under the law, educators are
required to report allegations of child abuse.
Two people had already been charged before Steubenville
Superintendent Mike McVey, strength coach Seth Fluharty, volunteer
football coach Matthew Belardine and elementary school principal
Lynnett Gorman were charged Monday.
McVey's charges include felony counts of obstructing justice and
tampering with evidence and a misdemeanor charge alleging he made a
false statement in April 2012. McVey's attorney didn't immediately
return messages seeking comment.
Belardine, whose house authorities said was the scene of the
underage drinking party that preceded the rape last summer, faces
several misdemeanor charges, including making a false statement and
contributing to underage alcohol consumption. Belardine will plead
not guilty, said Columbus attorney Brian Duncan.
Fluharty was charged with failing to report possible child abuse in
August 2012. Columbus attorney Tom Tyack said he had been contacted
to represent Fluharty but could not comment.
Gorman is charged with failing to report possible child abuse in
April 2012. Her attorney, Stephen LaMatrice, said she will plead not
guilty and the charge isn't connected to the football players' case,
but he declined to elaborate.
State law in Ohio requires a lengthy list of public and private
workers — including school administrators, teachers and employees —
to immediately report suspected cases of abuse or neglect.
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"If you're covered, you have to know what the law says and do what
it says," said Hollie Reedy, chief legal counsel for the Ohio School
Boards Association.
DeWine announced the grand jury's creation March 17, the day a judge
convicted Ma'Lik Richmond and Trent Mays of digitally penetrating
the West Virginia girl after an alcohol-fueled party that followed a
team scrimmage.
The grand jury earlier charged the Steubenville schools' information
technology director with tampering with evidence, obstructing
justice, obstructing official business and perjury. The panel also
indicted that man's daughter on theft and receiving stolen property
charges unrelated to the rape case. Both pleaded not guilty.
The case has long been marked by calls for more football players to
be charged and allegations that police and prosecutors tried to
cover up aspects of the case early on. Authorities counter that the
two teens were arrested and charged within days of the attack.
DeWine said he believes the grand jury's work is done, barring any
new evidence, and acknowledged people may wonder why still others
weren't charged.
"It's not necessarily a crime to be insensitive or to be
mean-spirited, or just to be stupid," DeWine said.
Big Red football is a big deal in the economically depressed city of
about 18,000, a former steel town that shed thousands of jobs in
past decades.
Derek Smith, 47, whose son is a fifth-grade student at the school
overlooking the stadium that's home to the football team, said he
was upset that school leaders might have been involved.
"Of course, it's always disturbing when you find out that the people
that are in charge of your kids at school have been charged with
this kind of thing," he said.
Richmond, 17, was convicted of rape and sentenced to a year in the
juvenile prison system. Mays, also 17, was convicted of rape and of
using his phone to take a picture of the girl naked and was
sentenced to two years in juvenile detention.
[Associated
Press; THOMAS J. SHEERAN]
Associated Press writers
Kantele Franko, Mitch Stacy and Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus,
Ohio, and John Seewer in Toledo contributed to this report.
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