Two Steubenville, Ohio teens were charged Sunday afternoon with the rape of a 16 year old girl. Trent Mays age 17 and Ma’lik Richmond age 16 will both be serving time in a juvenile detention center for at least one year to a year and a half or possibly until they both turn 21. The reason for the juvenile detention center is of course because both the boys involved were teenagers when this crime was committed. Trent Mays was also charged with Disseminating nude pictures for posting the pictures and video on Social Media sites. Both Mays and Richmond are star football players on Steubenvilles Big Red football program.
So lets get to the actual incident its self. I have my own personal beliefs on what happened and my opinions as well. Let me start off by saying “No woman should ever have to deal with this type of pain” no matter what the circumstances are. So please don’t think I’m okay with rape and sexual abuse on anyone. All the kids involved in this case (Mays, Richmond and the victim) were partying and enjoying some end of the school year parties with other friends and at different locations. Sounds like innocent teen fun to this point, but some how alcohol becomes involved and that’s when things start to take a turn I assume.
Here at The40cast.com we drink a lot of beer and alcohol and by no means do we approve of or allow under-age drinking in any capacity. This is the Main problem I have with this entire situation. Where did these “Kids” get there alcohol from and don’t they realize that the drinking age in Ohio and pretty much the rest of the Country is the age of “21″. Is anyone in Law Enforcement even concerned about this part of the incident? As a parent myself I understand you want your kids to have a good-time but I believe the Police need to look into how these kids got there alcohol. Did someones parent buy this for them, did they steal it from a store or just out of the parents house to where the party’s were taking place? Once again as a parent of three kids and being involved in there lives I believe these kids needed adult supervision at these party’s and none was given.
The City of Steubenville is a “Football Mecca” in Ohio and is known for having some good athletes come from the program. The problem I have with the whole “Superstar athlete” thing is whether your an athlete or not Rape is a crime and punishable with Jail and or Prison time. If these “Superstar Athletes” or any Parent or school official thought these kids were not gonna be prosecuted just because they are athletes then that is a problem. It’s a very common problem in our society today but to me,a fixable problem. We as a society need to stop putting these High School athletes on a “pedestal” and start holding them responsible for there action of there perspective fields. We see it all the time on ESPN and other News outlets that an athlete is given a lighter sentence because of the simple fact that there an athlete.
I want my kids to be great athletes and great people. If they get in trouble or break the law they will be punished at home 1st and if the Law gets involved they will be punished as well. I raise my boys to be good people first and good athletes next. Where are we as Americans, as Citizen, as people and as fans going wrong? I love sports probably more than the common man but the rising rate of crime, drugs and drinking by all these athletes is getting out of control. It’s making me not want to be a sports fan. I want to quote a famous basketball player from the 80′s. “I am not a role model …just because I dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids”. Charles Barkley said it then and it should stand true today to everyone. Raise your kids right in the home and you as a Parent should always do the right things so your kids can look up to you and want to be just like you when they grow up.
In no way am I saying that the parents of all the kids involved didn’t do everything they could to raise there kids the right way but like I mentioned earlier, “Why did these kids have alcohol at these parties” but the question needs to be answered and hopefully the Police will get to the bottom of it and do something about it whether its prosecuting the person or persons who purchased the booze.
After the ruling was read to the courtroom the mother of the victim read a statement to everyone ” Human compassion is not taught by a Teacher, a Coach or a Parent. It is a God-given gift instilled in all of us. You displayed not only a lack of this compassion but a lack of any moral code”. That’s a deep statement and it should be meet with some deep and cruel feedback. I will give the cruel feedback: Why was no one supervising these parties? Why are kids under the age of 21 drinking alcohol? Why as a parent don’t you tell your kids right from wrong because obviously these boys didn’t realize that penetrating a females vagina while she was passed out drunk is wrong! Why didn’t these kids get taught that posting pictures of you in the act of a crime on Social Media is wrong?
As you all can tell I am very upset that this happened. Kids are going to be kids but Parents need to be involved in there kids lives and make sure things like this don’t continue to happen. Three kids lives have been ruined and this all could have been prevented I believe with just a little Parental Supervision. No matter how good of a student or an athlete your child is the drinking age in Ohio and the rest of the country is 21. If you as a parent disobey that than how are you going to get your child to obey the law?
*An Update today concerning this article:
http://fox8.com/2013/03/18/death-threat-made-against-steubenville-victim/
We’re bringing you Episode 147 with the entire crew back along with our buddy Eric “AZRockslide” Bouchard from the Everyday Gamers Podcast. We comment on the recent activities of Angelina Jolie and the Cleveland kidnappings. We add a little Brew Buzz by listing the 8 best beer towns in America and talk about Denny’s visit to Epic Brewery in Salt Lake City. Join in on the fun because there are plenty of the topics you have come to love covering all things drinking, video games, movies, television and sports discussions. If you enjoy our outtakes at the end of the show then be prepared for few minutes of laughs at the end. We are sure you will be entertained, so grab your beverage of choice and get ready for a fun time!!
