Ohio AG: Hold adults accountable in Steubenville rape case
A notorious rape case has taken an unexpected turn. In March, two high school football players from Ohio were convicted of attacking a girl at a party. On Monday, charges were filed against the superintendent of schools, a principal and two coaches.
In football-crazy Steubenville, Ohio, the rape case was riveting -- and humiliating.
Last January, CBS News asked school Superintendent Michael McVey why, for example, responsibility for disciplining any other players who admitted to being at the party was given to the football coach.
Dean Reynolds: Do you see a possible conflict of interest there?
Superintendent Michael McVey: Protocol was followed, sir.
Reynolds: What is the protocol? You and the principal defer to the football coach?
McVey: We followed our discipline protocol as we usually do.
McVey: Once everything is over and the facts are out, then we will make our decisions on what has to be done or who was involved or who was not involved.
But McVey now stands indicted on charges of tampering with evidence, lying to investigators and urging others to lie. Two coaches and a principal have also been indicted.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine indicated that the accused were more concerned with the school and its football program than the victim.
"That’s what this is about. It’s
about holding adults accountable," DeWine said.
“This began as a rape of a 16-year-old girl -- a horrible crime of violence. But it also represents blurred, stretched and distorted boundaries of right and wrong,” he said.
The suspects will be arraigned Dec. 6.
