STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (AP) — One of the last chapters in a long-running criminal case that began with the rape of a 16-year-old girl by two high school football players is about to open with jury selection in the trial of a school superintendent accused of obstructing the rape investigation.
Mike McVey, currently suspended as Steubenville schools superintendent, faces felony charges of obstructing justice and tampering with evidence for allegedly misleading authorities about the school’s investigation of the August 2012 rape of the West Virginia girl.
McVey wiped computer hard drives, erased emails and lied to investigators about his knowledge of the allegations against the boys, court documents say.
Jury selection was set to begin Monday in Jefferson County court in the trial of McVey, who has pleaded not guilty to felony counts of tampering with evidence and obstructing justice, and misdemeanor counts of falsification and obstructing official business. A message was left Sunday for McVey’s attorney.
The charges stem from an investigation of McVey’s actions after he learned of the allegations in 2012 made by the girl against the two members of the Steubenville High football team, one of whom was the team’s quarterback. The teens eventually were found guilty in juvenile court and were sent to youth detention centers and classified as sex offenders. Both have since been released.
The case drew national attention in part because of the role of texting and social media in exposing the attack, which led to allegations that authorities were covering up the actions of football players.
McVey also is accused of concealing knowledge about rumors of sex and drinking at a teen party four months earlier.
A grand jury investigating whether other laws were broken in the case brought charges against six adults, including McVey.
William Rhinaman, the Steubenville schools’ former technology director, has also pleaded not guilty to charges including tampering with evidence and obstructing justice.
Charges against the other four adults have been resolved.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
He’ll get off on the Pat"BoysWillBeBoys" Robertson defense…
Frankly, they should let that girl drive around town & point out everyone who wasn’t utterly terrible to her. Then they should let her & those people relocate to a decent place. Then they should just cordon off the entire town of Steubenville and burn it & everyone in it to the ground. They’re all unsalvageable refuse.
What an odd turn of phrase for a news article. What do you suppose that means, “resolved?” I had to look them up:
From a different HuffPo article:
Perp #4 took some looking:
Meanwhile, Rapist #1
although another article suggested that the whole “sex offender” thing could go away after “rehabilitation.”
Rapist #2: