Steubenville Accuser: ‘They Were Taking Advantage of Me’
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Brand X Pictures/Thinkstock(STEUBENVILLE, Ohio) — A 16-year-old West Virginia girl allegedly raped by two high school football players emailed one of her accused attackers the day after a long night of partying to ask why he “would let that happen” and why “would you take my clothes off in front of everyone?”
That email was one of more than 100 electronic messages police recovered from the mobile phones of 16 different teenagers who attended a party with the alleged victim and the two Steubenville, Ohio, students accused of sexually assaulting her.
Prosecutors accuse Trent Mays, 17, and Ma’lik Richmond, 16, of using their fingers to vaginally penetrate the girl at an alcohol-fueled party in Steubenville on the night of Aug. 11, as other teenagers watched. Mays is also accused of later sending text messages that included photographs of the girl with her clothing removed and charged with distributing nude images of a minor.
Three of those teenage eyewitnesses are expected to appear in court Friday, the third day of testimony in a case that has drawn international attention.
Two of the boys slated to testify on Friday are believed to have photographed the incident, but no charges have been brought against them. Their testimony could be critical because the alleged victim says she remembers nothing of the incident.
Friday’s testimony follows a dramatic day in court on Thursday, in which a forensic computer expert for the state introduced many of the often graphic messages sent from the alleged victim and the defendants in the hours after the party.
Most of the messages were between Mays and friends, in which the football player gives differing accounts of what took place at the party and how much sexual contact he had with the alleged victim.
In one instance, he claims to have had sex with the alleged victim, in other incidences he says the girl masturbated him and in others he says he digitally penetrated the girl.
In a series of texts between the alleged victim and friends, she pleads for information about what took place.
“Swear to God I don’t remember doing anything with them,” she texted a friend. “Wait I think I was drugged. I have no memory from after I left” the party, she texted one boy.
“I wasn’t being a slut. They were taking advantage of me,” she wrote.
Defense attorneys say a toxicology report performed a day later showed no signs of drugs.
After learning about some of the alleged incidents at the party, the girl emails Mays.
“Why the f— would you let that happen. Seriously, you have no f—ing respect. People are telling me so much s–t, why the f— would you take my clothes off in front of everyone. You shouldn’t have let that happen,” she wrote.
If convicted, Mays and Richmond could serve prison time until they turn 21.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio