High School Football Wins Again In Rape Case

Even after Steubenville, there are still stories of towns choosing football over the welfare of other people. As the Kansas City Star's Dugan Arnett reported, it's happened in Maryville, Missouri. In January 2012, 14-year-old Daisy Coleman (her name released by her family to raise awareness of the case) and an unnamed 13-year-old friend claimed they were raped while unconscious. Daisy's attacker was identified as 17-year-old Matthew Barnett, senior defensive end for the high school Spoofhounds, who'd already been arrested for drunken driving. The 13-year-old's attacker was an unnamed 15-year-old, and a third individual, junior Jordan Zech, was a linebacker who videotaped the whole thing on a phone. The next morning, Daisy's mother found her dumped on the front porch, left unconscious outside to fend for herself on a 30-degree night. Police were called when her mother took her to a hospital, and the sheriff's department had evidence, confessions, and what they felt was a solid case.
Except the town turned on the Colemans. Death threats came through, threats to assault Daisy's older brother who was booed in wrestling matches, and a girl showing up to a dance competition wearing a shirt saying "Matt 1, Daisy 0." Daisy was cut from the cheerleading squad unexpectedly, and her mother fired from the local veterinary clinic. Then the charges were dropped, and the video of the assault was conveniently never found. One of the first tweets towards Daisy read, "Fuck yea. That’s what you get for bein a skank : )." The entire town turned on them so horribly the whole family moved out, leaving their house up for sale. This April, a fire struck the home, burning it to the ground: there's very little doubt foul play wasn't involved.
Daisy still lives with her stigma, being in regular therapy, spending four stints in a local hospital, attending a local Girls Town, and attempting to take her own life twice. Two of the accused are now at Northwest Missouri State, both unscathed, and one's mother asking the Colemans for an apology. Matthew Barrett is now at Central Missouri, where this tweet got collected by the Kansas City Star before he went private:

“If her name begins with A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z, she wants the D.”

The horrible truth in this case is how often high school football players, no matter how deep the evidence, are protected by their town. And no doubt little will change; a year after Steubenville, a Gawker article featured a citizen who defended her town. Her excuse was an applause for an opposing team being boat raced by their town's Big Red: "If we were such terrible, football-obsessed people, why would we have clapped?" Yes, because applauding a losing team shows you were not willing to stick your heads in the sand and ignore a rape. And like Steubenville, rumors of Anonymous descending on the town have circled, meaning things could get very ugly.
But for now, it's another sad reminder of our country: football always wins. No one is an exception.
Read more of Dugan Arnett's story in the Kansas City Star, and if you can, send it to as many people as you can, so that his excellent journalism can be seen. A true dialog needs to happen: the Navies, Steubenvilles, and Lizzy Seebergs need to stop. Now.
Top image courtesy MaxPreps.

NCAA Giving Penn State Some Scholarships Back

The NCAA announced Tuesday they will be lessening the restrictions on Penn State's football scholarships, because they've been very nice the past year and haven't raped any children.
And this has been your National Collegiate Athletic Association in action!
Read more at NBC's College Football Talk.

Go Navy! Beat Army! Rape Victims Are Hos!

For three days, defense lawyers grilled a female midshipman who said she was raped by three Navy football players. For a total of thirty hours, they asked her questions about her sexual habits and whether or not she wore underwear that night. From the New York Times:

[D]efense lawyers repeatedly asked the midshipman about a consensual sexual encounter she said she had the next day. In some of the most widely disseminated testimony, Andrew Weinstein, a lawyer for Mr. Bush, asked the woman whether she wore a bra or other underwear to the party and whether she “felt like a ho” afterward. Lt. Cmdr. Angela Tang, a lawyer for Mr. Graham, also asked the woman repeatedly about her oral sex technique, arguing over objections from the prosecution that oral sex would indicate the “active participation” of the woman and therefore consent.

This after the midshipman was punished for underage drinking after her initial complaint, forced to attend the accused football games, and intimidated in phone message and in the mess hall. These questions are part of an internal "Article 32" hearing, in which the judge over these proceedings will report to the Naval Academy's superintendent, Vice Adm. Michael H. Miller. It will be his decision, and his alone, that will decide whether these charges should go forward or Navy will go 12-0 against Army this December the charges should be dropped.
Read more at the New York Times.

Attorney To Teach Football Players How To Not Get Caught Raping

West Virginia U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld watched the Steubenville Rape Case, where two football players were convicted thanks to tweets and Instagrams of the incident. So his solution?

"We thought, 'Let's start calling athletic directors and coaches to see if they're interested.' That investment of time hopefully will pay dividends down the road, not only because you hope the kids are going to stay out of trouble. Social media creates so many distractions off the field for coaches. Maybe we can help them avoid that situation as well."

Yes, the program is going to focus on the role social media played in the case. It's a great service for football players:

"We bring the perspective of 'OK, if you do this, this is what can happen. We don't want to see you in court,' " Ihlenfeld said.

Among the football programs who will learn how social media impacts your ability to rape will be "Brooke, Cameron, Hundred, John Marshall, Magnolia, Wheeling Central, Wheeling Park, ...Oak Glen, Paden City and Weir high schools." Invitations will also be sent to other high school and college programs in the 32 counties covered Ihlenfeld's district.
Read more at the Charleston Daily Mail.
Image courtesy West Virginia Public Broadcasting.