Trigger warning: This post deals with rape and may be distressing for some readers.
Two years ago, Ma’lik Richmond raped a 16-year-old girl.
The high school footballer, along with fellow student and footballer Trent Mays, raped the teenager at a party in Steubenville, Ohio — and the horrifying incident was photographed, filmed and plastered all over social media.
Media coverage of the trial by CNN described the rapists as ‘star football players’ with ‘promising futures’, and some members of the local community rallied around the perpetrators.
Richmond was released from juvenile detention in January, after serving just nine months for the crime.
Now he’s making news again — because he’s being allowed to play on the high school football team.
Disturbingly, WTRF reports that Richmond was back on the team roster as of yesterday, which marked the two-year anniversary of the disturbing assault.
Photos of a smiling Richmond in uniform also feature on the Big Red fan site.
The fact that Richmond was allowed to return to the team despite being a sex offender — who must register as such every six months for the next 20 years — has sparked fierce debate on Twitter.
Amber Murphy tweeted: “I’m seeing lots of people say, ‘let him get on with his life!’ What about her? It’ll plague her for the rest of her life!”
Another wrote: “#Steubenville Where you can #Rape a child. Get convicted. Get released… and rejoin your football team like a hero.”
“The #Steubenville team’s motto this year is “Acta Non Verba” should we take it as “actions not words” or “do it but don’t talk about it”?,” another wrote.
But others have defended Richmond’s right to move on after serving his sentence.
“Ma’Lik Richmond raped, served his time, its done now its over, let the guy play football, it’ll be good for him,” twitter user Paul Duncan wrote.
In a post called “It’s time to stop shaming the Steubenville rapists,” Amanda Hess wrote for Slate:
“What is he supposed to do? Drop out of school and live under a bridge for the rest of his life? That wouldn’t just be bad for Richmond—it would be bad for Steubenville, because a juvenile’s rehabilitation and reentry into society is integral to preventing rape in the future.”
The news follows controversy over a statement released in January by Richmond’s lawyer, which referred to the rape as an ‘unfortunate set of circumstances’.
“As with each other obstacle, Ma’Lik has met it squarely, lifted his chin, and set his shoulders; he is braced for the balance of his life…At this point, Ma’Lik wants most to be a high school teenager,” the January statement, which confirmed Richmond’s release from detention, said.
The victim’s lawyer Robert Fitzsimmons responded on behalf of the family, saying it was ‘disheartening’ that the statement made no reference to the victim, ‘whom he and his co-defendant scarred for life’.
“One would expect to see the defendant publicly apologize for all the pain he caused rather than make statements about himself,” Mr Fitzsimmons said.
Mays is still serving out his two-year sentence, The Huffington Post reports.
If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call the NSW Rape Crisis Centre on 1800 RESPECT (1800 424 017). It doesn’t matter if you do not live in NSW, or even in Australia, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.
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Top Comments
I don't understand why a lot of the people of Steubenville can't get through their heads the fact that what both of those boys did was wrong
Let's not forget in all the outrage that these boys were just that, boys. As in children. Children who appear to have been materially damaged by the adults and other children of Steubenville, and the culture of entitlement that they enabled.
By villifying and demonising these two boys, we allow the rest of the perpetrators to get off far too lightly. We need to allow these boys the opportunity to reintegrate. To rehabilitate. And we need to force the other perpetrators, those who set up the conditions for this crime in Steubenville, and in less well-publicised towns around the world where this story happens over, and over and over to face up to the monsters they created.
Or we could just turn these two boys from teenagers who committed a grave offence as a child, and who might now learn from that experience, into men who are furious at a world that taught them to be something, and then rejected them when they became what they were taught to become.
I think that we need to remember that these two boys were children as well. They learned these behaviours and this entitlement mentality from the adults and other children around them. Their actions were the logical conclusion of the hero worship of high school athletes and the culture surrounding it. Let's hold the real perpetrators responsible.
The town, including the scantily clad cheerleading team whose sole purpose was to dance suggestively in "support" for these boys (encouraged by their parents and school), the teachers who let their behaviour slide, just a little, because they were "champions", the parents who indulged their every wish, so long as they kept winning, essentially turned these two boys into a loaded gun, which was only waiting for the right trigger.
You present a rational view. But you know what, you did not mention the victim once. Furthermore, you blamed everyone but the two boys. It is telling.
They definitely should reintegrate into society, but, they should not be allowed the privilege of representing their high school football team. Just my 2 cents.
I didn't mention one of the victims. The one that everyone else has been focusing on while living out a revenge fantasy ostensibly on her behalf.
I did blame everyone. Because everyone is responsible. Those two boys didn't turn into rapists on their own. They apparently didn't even actually view what they did as rape. That suggests to me that their environment led them to believe that they had a right to what they wanted. By focusing on these two boys, and ignoring the conditions and environment, we make it easier for this to happen again. Instead of facing up to what we do to encourage this kind of behaviour, to normalise this mentality, we can treat it as an aberration.
We'll have to disagree on this one. I understand what you're saying, but I feel people need to take responsibility of their own actions. Not everything can be explained rationally. It's a scary thought but sometimes people commit horrendous crimes, when they know it is wrong, simply because they can.
The story is not about the female victim. What is the the point of having a justice system if people cannot accept that the punishment has been served and the matter officially ends?