Staff Writer
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| Nicholas Chupka |
If you haven’t heard of the recent Steubenville, Ohio rape tragedy, you’ve probably been either living under a rock or grounded from technology. Two high school football players, Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond, were both sentenced to one year in a juvenile detention center for rape. Mays was sentenced to one
extra year for illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material. CNN is currently under blast by many for their coverage of the Steubenville verdict. During the coverage, CNN news anchor Candy Crowley said, “A sixteen year-old now sobbing in court. Regardless of what big football stars they are, they still sound like sixteen year-olds. The thing is when you listen to it and you realize, they could stay until they’re twenty one.” Okay, we get it. They were football stars, but now they’re sex offenders getting what they deserve. What about the sixteen year-old girl who was humiliated and violated in front of thousands?
Live at the courthouse in Ohio, CNN reporter Poppy Harlow noted how difficult it was to watch the situation unfold in the courtroom. “I’ve never experienced anything like it. It was incredibly emotional, incredibly difficult, even for an outsider like me, to watch what happened as these two young men that had such promising futures, star football players, very good students literally watched as they believe their lives fell apart,” she said. Why was this difficult? Shouldn’t Harlow be glad that justice is being served? Sure, the ruling was very mild for a rape, but at least there was some punishment. Also, why does Harlow keep reminding us about how talented and smart they are? Talent or age doesn’t excuse the fact that they made a bad decision, and now they’re feeling the effects.
The morning after the crimes were committed, Mays sent the following disturbing text to the victim’s father, “Sir, this is Trent Mays. This is all a misunderstanding. I just took care of your daughter when she was drunk and made sure she was safe.” Knowing this information, it just makes Harlow’s biased coverage of the event even worse.
Harlow emphasized how important a factor alcohol was in the case, “[This is a] very serious crime here. Both found guilty of raping this sixteen year old girl at a series of parties back in August. Alcohol fueled parties. Alcohol [is] a huge part in this.” Fine. She drank a little too much, but does that mean she wants to be raped? I’m pretty sure that nothing means “I want to be raped.” This is one of the only points during the coverage that the victim is actually mentioned.
After the verdict was announced, Mays gave his final statement, saying, “I would like to apologize to [the victim] and her family, my family and the community. No pictures should have been sent, let alone ever taken.” Notice how sorry he is for raping the girl. Oh, wait. He’s not. I don’t see anything even mentioning the fact that he took advantage of her when she was vulnerable. To me, it sounds like Mays is more upset that he got caught rather than actually feeling remorseful for ruining the life of a sixteen year old girl.
After that Crowley goes on to further sympathize with the two convicted rapists, asking, “What’s the lasting effect though of two young men being found guilty in juvenile court of rape, essentially?” First of all, it isn’t “essentially” rape. It is rape. A sixteen year-old girl was sexually abused while intoxicated. That’s rape. Second of all, why is Crowley so blatantly sympathizing with these two? The question Crowley should be asking is, “What is the lasting effect of being raped, urinated on, and then thrown into the middle of the street, drunk, and sixteen years old, all while pictures and videos of you are being posted onto the Internet for the whole world to see?”
Why is it permissible, in our society, to blame the victim instead of the rapist? Why are big news stations like CNN sympathizing? Maybe we should get our priorities straight. Maybe we should be more concerned with the life that was ruined by force, rather than the lives that were ruined by choice.
