Steubenville rapist is back on the football team
Source: SF Gate
One of the two Steubenville (Ohio) football players convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl at a party two years ago is back on the football team, according to WTRF-TV.
Malik Richmond, a wide receiver who served a one-year sentence in a juvenile facility after a nationally watched trial, was allowed to return even though he must register as a sex offender for 20 years. He is shown with the other seniors and in a closeup in a team photo on the Big Red fan site.
The other player convicted and ringleader of the attacks, quarterback Trent Mays, remains in detention. The victim graduated from a neighboring high school in June.
Richmonds return has already caused some calls for the resignation of longtime coach Reno Saccoccia and sarcastic outrage about the priorities in the football-obsessed town.
Read more: http://blog.sfgate.com/hottopics/2014/08/11/steubenville-rapist-is-back-on-the-football-team/
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,719 posts)And for those who are wondering:
is my real reaction.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)Should he be denied an opportunity to play football, which might be a means of advancement for him?
Maybe he shouldn't be allowed to go to college?
Should we quit screwing around and just execute him?
He has done his time. He has to register as a sex offender for the next 20 years. Maybe we should just let him try to get on with his life.
Do we believe in rehabilitation and redemption?
derby378
(30,252 posts)One year in juvvie for rape? That's not rehabilitation, that's a slap on the wrist.
24601
(3,963 posts)an unsupervised cell with adult sexual offenders. After he has been sodomized sufficiently, you can haul him out of jail, castrate him (classic punishment for a black offender) and lynch him. After all, he's just a kid that will never be missed, right?
Do I REALLY need the sarcasm tag here?
Am I really on DU? Based on the posts, I thought my browser farted and opened a freeper thread.
derby378
(30,252 posts)Let's see if his victim's panic attacks have disappeared after one year in juvvie. Let's compare their psychological profiles and see if there's been any real punishment for the crime.
Focus. Justice denied is, well, just that.
24601
(3,963 posts)included execution. And you didn't alert for sarcasm.
We have a bad past executing black makes for rape. I don't want that perpetuated here.
There are crimes for which execution is appropriate. This does not rise to that level.
The Green Manalishi
(1,054 posts)and that he is *NOT* some sort of victim in his own right is exactly the same as wanting him executed or calling for a lynching.... got it.
Squinch
(51,021 posts)24601
(3,963 posts)years and years. Did he deserve punishment under the law - yes. Does he deserve extra-judicial punishment and becoming just another stereo-typed statistic based on his race? Not now, not ever, and those kind of sentiments should never find a comfortable home on DU.
Squinch
(51,021 posts)talking about the fact that he raped a woman and filmed it and published the film. He then laughed about it and intimidated his victim. He ruined the life if this girl. And for that he got a year in juvie. That is not justice.
He is a rapist. That has nothing to do with his race.
Response to Squinch (Reply #59)
Post removed
Squinch
(51,021 posts)24601
(3,963 posts)so, and you still don't see the race factor, then no wonder we have so many young black men locked up serving long terms of confinement.
If you don't recognize the connection between race and suggestions of punishments beyond the limits of the law, then you are not part of the solution.
Throw them in the hole, throw away the key, forget about restoring voting rights. Quips about castration - it worked in the old South after all. Nope, not our problem, right? Move along citizens, nothing influenced by race to see here.
Bjorn Against
(12,041 posts)The word execution was first brought up by someone defending the rapist and you have tried to pretend that there are actually people here supporting executing and castrating him even though no one said any such thing. Stop with the straw men, wanting a rapist kicked off the football team is not the equivilent of supporting executing him.
nilesobek
(1,423 posts)joining the football team again. I thought sex offender restrictions were designed to keep the offender within 1000 feet or so of schools where underage children are. How can you play for a high school football team and not go within that distance of a school?
WCLinolVir
(951 posts)You think a year is actually punishment for a horrific pathological crime then I feel that you do not understand rape at all. I think you are in denial, IMHO.
A raping black male is no different from a raping white male. They are both sick and have little regard for the rest of society. And statistically recidivists, hard to treat, and rarely take responsibility for the acts that they have committed.
Squinch
(51,021 posts)Martin and it is unspeakably foul of you to suggest that he bears any resemblance to Treyvon Martin. And second, the calls for execution are all in your addled head.
Bjorn Against
(12,041 posts)Many schools do have policies requiring athletes to maintain a certain GPA to remain on the team. Do you consider it "extra judicial punishment" to kick a player off the team because of bad grades? If schools can keep students off the team for bad grades then I fail to see why rapists should be allowed to remain on the team.
derby378
(30,252 posts)I'm not here to hold your hand and guide you across ever busy intersection on the information superhighway.
You want me to be reasonable, but you don't explain how a one-year sentence in juvvie for a brutal rape is "reasonable." And he gets his meal ticket, his football career, and his big shoe deal scot free while she's left to deal with the wreckage.
7962
(11,841 posts)Orrex
(63,225 posts)When I was in high school, you would be permanently banned from all team sports if one of the coaches caught you smoking.
One would hope that raping a girl would be rated as a somewhat serious infraction than puffing a cigarette, but apparently that ain't how they roll in Steubenville.
alp227
(32,060 posts)derby378
(30,252 posts)No more panic attacks, no more phobias, no more screaming herself awake at night, nada. Either her mental anguish is dealt with or we dump on this guy some more.
Omaha Steve
(99,741 posts)Isn't cruel or unusual!
George II
(67,782 posts)...of the case?
No, that would be too easy, let's just publicly crucify him.
Remember, back in the dark ages of the Deep South, blacks convicted of rape were executed (if they weren't lynched before trial)!
From what I read here, we haven't progressed very far since the 1950s.
Squinch
(51,021 posts)say anything about executing anyone? WTF is your point with that bullshit?
This kid got a slap on the wrist for ruining someone else's life. People are allowed to point that out. Get a grip.
dsc
(52,166 posts)I don't think it is ridiculous for people to worry about extra judicial punishments given their pretty bad history in this country. Yes there is a huge difference in degree here but not in kind.
WCLinolVir
(951 posts)Actually I think publicly crucified might be a real deterrent. If only we took rape that seriously. And no we haven't progressed very far from the fifties if all we do is wring our hands and worry about a RAPIST. Who got a year of detention for a horrific crime. Go play the race card where it is relevant. This is about rape sexism, and misogyny.
George II
(67,782 posts)....he was punished in accordance with the law as it is written.
As I hinted but didn't explicitly say in my first post, thank goodness this wasn't the 1950s, we might be seeing him swinging from a tree - most likely even before he faced trial.
WCLinolVir
(951 posts)LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)"Should he be denied an opportunity to play football..."
It's rather common for teenagers get kicked off extra-curricular activities for merely drinking alcohol. Seems a rather absurd message to "deny an opportunity to play football" for simply getting drunk, but re-instating a convicted rapist.
"...which might be a means of advancement for him?"
An education will do that more efficiently, more effectively, and with much less cost-- maybe he should focus rather on that.
cosmicone
(11,014 posts)He took advantage of a consciousness impaired girl and raped her, had pictures taken while raping her and was a part of the "rape club." He got a slap on the wrist which didn't hurt.
His passion is football and depriving of that would be a real punishment. Instead, he will be glorified as a jock once again.
He registers as a sex offender for 20 years -- which means after age 37 he won't have to - prime age for rapists.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)Not playing football.
Ash_F
(5,861 posts)They say that is where true adulthood begins.
I imagine it would a take significant societal investment to get someone back on track if they strayed so far as to commit rape.
radicalliberal
(907 posts)She has received death threats since the "guilty" verdict and continues to be persecuted to this day because of the rape culture. But that's not important, is it?
Squinch
(51,021 posts)pennylane100
(3,425 posts)for the hell he put his victim through is totally unnecessary. If that had been you or a close family member that had been so outrageously violated, I think you may have managed a little more empathy for the victim and less for the sadist that almost destroyed her life.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)I personally think the judge made the mistake of giving him the sentence he did and that it should have been 2 years for both at a minimum.
That being said, he has been released and has rejoined society. I hope counseling was required by the court for him as well as no drinking as a condition of his release as long as he is supervised (I have no idea whether he is being supervised on probation or not and for how long). Sex offender registration will severely limit what he can do for the 20 years he is required to register (employment, housing, and probably college as well). Most states have lifetime registration, his maybe less because he was a minor.
I do think the high school could have made the choice not to allow him to play football given the trouble he has been in.
Unless he makes another mistake, he has to be allowed to life his life now that the justice system has acted.
I believe in both, but I think it will be a very long hard road.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)And it's a no-brainer that the school should have permabanned him from football and any other sports he plays, especially if his parents don't have enough common sense to ban him from sports themselves...
Of course, if the kid was a pine rider, it would have been much more likely his school would have made an example of him -- So I'm guessing he's a pretty good player since his school is quick to forgive and forget...
The point you're missing is this is EXACTLY the kind of mindset that perpetuates the cycle and promotes a culture of consequence-free actions...And we've seen how many athletes raised in that "Always bailed out of trouble or just skate away with a slap on the wrist" environment still find themselves in unsavory incidents at university athlete factories and even in the professional ranks...
PoutrageFatigue
(416 posts)This isn't a case of "teenage-prank-gone-wrong" this evil little fuck raped an unconscious girl....Fuck him and any of his chances of "advancement"...he gave that up the moment he unzipped his fly....
And if that were MY daughter he raped, he'd have other things to worry about other than "advancement", like trying to figure just how far, and which continent he needs to re-locate to, so I wouldn't find him...
GOLGO 13
(1,681 posts)Sounds fair.
Ms. Toad
(34,101 posts)I don't know if the survivor of the rape is still in school - she would be 17 or 18 now so it is likely she is still a senior. Even if she isn't, I would be surprised if she was the only victim of this kid.**
The victims of violent crimes (of which rape and bullying are two) should not be forced to attend school with those who have made their lives a living hell. Remove the perpetrators from the situation for the remainder of their school career, so the survivors are not punished for the remainder of their school career by daily contact with their attacker.
**A student who raped a one of his classmates, in the school I taught at, also opened the door to my classroom and threw things in at me. In the course of tracking down his identity, many other students confided in me that they had been repeatedly bullied by him. Perpetrators often have more than one victim - and are often protected from harm. The rapist/bully in my situation was never held accountable for any of his high school offenses, and the girl he attacked ultimately dropped out.
mercuryblues
(14,543 posts)with a joint you are automatically expelled. Rape a classmate you get put back on the football team.
Adam051188
(711 posts)as well as other locations.
justice is great.
lunasun
(21,646 posts)dsc
(52,166 posts)but he didn't and I think we have to be very careful about the notion that people who paid their penalty for a crime should be punished, by the government (ie public school) after they have served their time.
HERVEPA
(6,107 posts)Rapists inflict a life sentence of recovery on those who survive their attacks. This man should NOT be "rewarded" by allowing him to continue to play sports at the school where he perpetrated his criminal offense.
mopinko
(70,239 posts)that people pay.
it is one thing to say the guy should be able to get a job. but a college football team has every reason to insist on good character in their players. this is a privilege, not a right.
again, there are other consequences for such crimes, and they are right and proper.
people who reap what they sow should get no sympathy.
dsc
(52,166 posts)what if he had gotten a year for dealing drugs? would you think he should still be banned, by the government, from playing football?
mopinko
(70,239 posts)i have no problems with sex offenders being the last on the list to admit to college, even. campuses are bad enough already. football players are put on a pedestal. this "man" does not belong on a pedestal.
and equating a university with the justice system is just not even logical.
dsc
(52,166 posts)it would behoove you to know about what you comment about. So you think there should be one standard for sex offenders and another for everyone else. What about teens in states with statutory rape laws without romeo and juliet exceptions? Should a 17 year old girl who sleeps with a 16 year old boy who consents to the sex, be banned from the cheerleading squad?
mopinko
(70,239 posts)football is a privilege. a source of prestige. this critter does not deserve that.
however, i wouldnt have a whole lot of trouble with expelling him from the high school.
and to even say romeo and juliet in this context is just dishonest.
nearly every state which has a sex offender registry puts people convicted of statutory rape on them. Under your rule those students would indeed not be permitted to play football and apparently wouldn't be permitted to attend school either. The fact is I would have no problem at all with banning him from football if that was part of his legally sanctioned punishment. But I have a huge problem with us having some sort of ad hoc system where we decide that person A hasn't been punished enough so we are going to after the fact add more punishment. That isn't how laws are supposed to work.
WCLinolVir
(951 posts)Absolutely f%$^&&& clueless.
dsc
(52,166 posts)and I happen to agree with that. But I would be willing to bet that for someone whose child died of an overdose the answer might well be different. Do they get to have their preference become law after the fact? Or do only we get that privilege? That is why the law should be the law so that it is clear just what will and won't be punished and in what way.
WCLinolVir
(951 posts)No one forced him to take the drugs. No knife at his throat, no abuse, no miscarriage, no beating, no PTSD. You really don't get rape, do you? And to blame a dealer for what a kid does to himself and equate that to rape is ludicrous, IMHO. But I bet you will keep on diminishing the violence of rape.
dsc
(52,166 posts)but would deny that privilege to others. And I am the one who is wrong, of course that is the way it works. BTW I am sure you didn't intend to lie about what I wrote, you must have misread where I said the kid should still be in jail. I am sure you didn't mean to tell an outright lie about what I wrote. But the fact is I think having a judical system that doesn't run on mob rule is more important than the punishment anyone gets for any one or more crimes. To take one recent example a man who tried to set a gay club in Seattle on fire on New Years Eve recently got sentenced to 10 years despite clear evidence it was a hate crime and the fact it took the heroics of one of the attendees to prevent massive deaths. I think that is a wholly wrong sentence but when he serves it then that should be it. The government shouldn't get to say you can't get a job or you can't live here or there. Once a punishment is served that should be it.
Now if they didn't want this kid playing football when he got out then they should have made that part of his sentence with a judge signing off. For that matter they should have sentenced him to several years with a judge signing off. What they shouldn't be able to do is give him one year, release him, and then without a judicial sign off, have the government deny him education or parts of his education.
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)msongs
(67,453 posts)lib87
(535 posts)And he is back on the football team at the same school as a registered sex offender!? That school, their admin, the district and the coach are sad excuses for allowing him to represent that high school as an athlete.
underpants
(182,904 posts)And very sad
redstatebluegirl
(12,265 posts)in all schools, even down to grade school if they see "promise". They might be dimwits in school, but if they can play ball everything is forgiven. It is WRONG!
I know I'm an old fool, but in my day a guy got kicked off the team for smoking cigs and drinking alcohol. No hearing no nothing. They knew the rules, they broke em and ended up off the team.
I don't buy the "ruin his chances for life routine". They aren't keeping him out of school, let him graduate, let him go to college and see if he can behave. Athletics are EXTRA curricular, not a means to an end.
QuestForSense
(653 posts)He spent a year in jail. That's forever for a teenager. He very definitely made the dumbest, worst decision of his life on that fateful night. But life has to continue. Cut him some slack; perhaps he's seen the error of his ways and is sorry.
derby378
(30,252 posts)Did I already mention the lingering side effects his victim most likely suffers? Nightmares? Panic attacks? Phobias? Depression? Other PTSD symptoms, up to and including full-blown catatonia in some rape victims?
Unfortunately for many of these women, this is forever. Treating PTSD is one hell of a challenge.
Imagine if that poor girl were your daughter, your neighbor, someone you cared about. You'd be screaming Odin and demanding his salted head in a sack.
QuestForSense
(653 posts)derby378
(30,252 posts)...if that girl meant anything to you, trust me, you would. Especially if she was your little girl.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)"Cut him some slack". Can you possibly be any more dismissive of RAPE?
Response to theHandpuppet (Reply #25)
Post removed
Bjorn Against
(12,041 posts)There is a real victim in this case and it is not the rapist.
derby378
(30,252 posts)I'm stunned. Yesterday I got hit with the news of Robin Williams' suicide, and now I'm seeing this rapist-as-victim meme - on, of all places, Democratic Underground.
What the hell is this world coming to? I need a drink.
Squinch
(51,021 posts)"there's no such thing as rape culture" posts in 3..2..1..
chervilant
(8,267 posts)What if it was YOUR daughter?!?
Forever is how long the young woman he raped will have to remember this horrific crime.
I find your post grossly offensive.
QuestForSense
(653 posts)You did not think about, nor even understand my post. Whatever made you react as if I were unsympathetic to the victim is a gigantic leap. You've got quite an ax to grind there, Miss. Please don't sharpen it on me.
Squinch
(51,021 posts)true colors are showing. And they are pretty nauseating.
Bjorn Against
(12,041 posts)All people in this thread need to do is view your hidden post to know that when you say you are sympathetic to the victim you are really saying that you are sympathetic to the rapist. Dismissively referring to the person you responded to as "Miss" only shows your misogyny even more.
chervilant
(8,267 posts)stop trying to justify your position. Rapists do not need apologists.
I did understand your sophomoric and offensive post. I have done advocacy for survivors of relationship violence for better than thirty years. I've only ever advocated for male survivors twice in my life, but I've advocated for hundreds of women who have survived being raped, beaten, and/or abused--usually by someone in whom they should have been able to place their trust.
I won't alert on your post (the patronizing "Miss" is totally unwarranted). But, I will add you to my IL, where I won't have to view any more of your drivel.
"Ax to grind," indeed! Projection will never help you hone your critical thinking skills...
Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)no really it's funny. Perhaps the victimizer is sorry. But, that has F'all to do with the damage he inflicted.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)I find it unsettling that you've yet to make mention of the actual victim herself...
christx30
(6,241 posts)he would never play football again. He would be relegated to pure academics. Has to keep a b+ or higher average to have any privileges. No parties. If he doesn't like it, he gets a job and an apartment of his own. But he can't expect any help from me.
alarimer
(16,245 posts)He got a slap on the wrist, nothing more.
He should not be allowed to play football. Maybe if he just went back to school, studied and never got in trouble again, then it might be okay. The culture surrounding sports and football in particular, will only encourage repeat offenses. Football players are the worst entitled little shits on any high school campus.
City Lights
(25,171 posts)...sheesh.
Bjorn Against
(12,041 posts)Lets hope that long quest leads him far away from here.
WCLinolVir
(951 posts)bluestateguy
(44,173 posts)I'm not sure I like that law, but until the law is changed, it is what it is.
JoeyT
(6,785 posts)that think a rapist got off too light with people that wanted to lynch accused black men.
Yeah, sure, a kid who was proud enough he raped someone to brag about it, and who had so much access to the power structure that it took a fucking national outcry to see him even charged with a crime (And one of the people that made the outcry happen got more time than he did), is totally comparable to black people being murdered on an accusation.
There are no words. Or at least no words that won't get a jury hide because the important thing here is not to be nasty to people that think rapists are the real victim.
Edit: This seems fitting
I could rec your post because it's exactly what I was thinking.
radicalliberal
(907 posts)edgineered
(2,101 posts)That clip is without a doubt the most vile piece of crap ever made. Everything from the rapist is portrayed as the victim to the smug grins and proud smiles on the face of those worshiping him matches how this Steubenville circus is performing. Things cannot be shown more clearly than this.
Squinch
(51,021 posts)Squinch
(51,021 posts)so offensively disgusting, I have no words.
It's beyond vile that people would even make the comparison.
alarimer
(16,245 posts)Sports participation in school should be a reward for good behavior and his was not.
And certainly a year in juvie is not enough for him to have learned anything. Likely the entitled little shit will go on to do something else.
I don't give rapists the benefit of the doubt.
A Little Weird
(1,754 posts)Much less on the football team. Disgusting.
U4ikLefty
(4,012 posts)n2doc
(47,953 posts)brewens
(13,622 posts)We want to win right? If it was a mediocre player, he might not be back.
Drinking, smoking, smoking weed would have got you booted off my high school team for a year for sure in the 70's. For rape, you wouldn't want to come back and try and play. That would be a target on your back and assure everyone would be taking shots at you at every opportunity.
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)My kid sister played football. If there'd been a rapist in an opposing team she'd have put him in the hospital (if one of her teammates didn't get to him first.)
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)and he forsook that priviledge.
Hell, getting F- in english should revoke that priviledge, much less something that he should be doing hard time for.
Orsino
(37,428 posts)J_J_
(1,213 posts)Three people -- Anthony Resetarits, 22, Joseph Resetarits, 19, and an unnamed juvenile boy -- have been charged with sexually assaulting a drunk teen with an object after the boy passed out on a couch during a large party in Homer.
According to charging documents, after the boy passed out, Anthony Resetarits shaved an M in the boys hair, and other people at the party wrote on his body with markers. Afterwards, people at the party shouted out suggestions as to what to do next. An unidentified person suggested an obscene act.
Anthony Resetarits then sexually assaulted the boy with an object, with Joseph Resetarits also participating, charging documents state.
Many people at the party -- the estimated attendance was between 60 and 80 people -- witnessed the alleged assault, and some were photographing parts of it. Troopers recovered multiple photographs taken at the party, including one of two men sexually assaulting the boy.
http://www.adn.com/article/20140806/judge-dismisses-sexual-assault-case-against-homer-men
J_J_
(1,213 posts)thanks in advance
60 witnesses,videos,pics,hospital report to police..Judge Dismisses Sexual Assault Against Homer Men
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025369088
Calista241
(5,586 posts)He has to register as a sex offender. He's basically screwed for life.
He's not going to be able to get a good job. He's going to have to register his residence with law enforcement, and apartment property managers can decline his app just for that.
ForgoTheConsequence
(4,869 posts)...
Calista241
(5,586 posts)He was 16 when the rape happened. And he really is screwed for life.
He can't go to college, even if he's good enough to play college football. What college would take a chance in a convicted rapist?
He's not going to get a good job, even in Steubenville. Any company that hires him has to be insured, how many insurance companies would just let the "convicted rapist" employee slide?
Rape is one if the worst crimes someone can commit, but to think this dude got off easy is misleading.
ForgoTheConsequence
(4,869 posts)He only has to register as a sex offender until he's 38. The victim has to live with this for life.
He got off easy, quit defending lax rape laws.
Calista241
(5,586 posts)Rape is a terrible crime. Terrible to suffer through and it has lasting consequences for victims.
This kid was 16 when this incident happened. Should he spend his life in jail? They threw the book at this kid and got the best punishment they could. And deservedly so. But like it or not, he has fulfilled his debt to society.
Many of the comments in this thread appear to be related to his participation in football. Is what this guy does for 3 months during his senior year really that important? Is high school football some mystic activity where he becomes a idolized hero?
Trayvon Martin was older than this kid and everyone here referred to him as a innocent child who couldn't possibly have done what he was accused of.
Why is this kid treated here as a new Ted Bundy? A soul undeserving of any leniency or forgiveness?
WCLinolVir
(951 posts)He should have been tried as an adult and given ten years. Minus the killing and dismemberment, he is as creepy as Bundy. He has shown no remorse. Or do you not know the facts of the case?
Calista241
(5,586 posts)16 is a child by any sane definition.
We're trying to get rid of this prison state we live in and you're consigning another person to jail forever. What's he supposed to do when he's 26 and just our of jail after 10 years? He has to register as a sex offender then also. He won't be able to get a job, he'll have no skills. I suppose we could just consign him to 50 years of prison, low pay, misery, crime and poverty.
Rape is truly a horrible crime. Many women (and men) never get over it, and can never have safe or comfortable relationships. It is hideous to experience, and has life long consequences for the victims of this horrible crime.
But you're proposing we do the same thing to that young kid who will never even have a chance to live a normal productive life now. We need to get rid of this prison state. If this 16 year old kid has a chance at recovery and contributing to society, we should do everything to make that possible.
Ms. Toad
(34,101 posts)I am not advocating locking him up forever and throwing away the key, but he was not a passive participant that rape happened to. He chose to participate, as an aggressor, and the consequences you have listed are not random thing which happened to a poor innocent teenager - they are a direct response to what he chose to do.