Instagram, YouTube-Fueled High School Rape Trial Begins Today

The trial of two high-school football players accused of raping a 16-year-old girl at a party last year begins today in Steubenville, Ohio, following months of social media-fueled speculation and accusation. Trent Mays and Malik Richmond, two 16-year-olds who play for Steubenville High's massively popular Big Red football team (Mays is the starting quarterback, Richmond a wide receiver) both claim that all contact with the victim, whose name has not been made public, was consensual; their defense team will argue as such.. The case gained national attention last year thanks to a loose network of bloggers and "hackers"—in particular a woman named Alexandra Goddard and groups claiming affiliation with hacking collective Anonymous—who tirelessly publicized the case, accusing local authorities of protecting the football players and uncovering a disturbing social media trail, including Twitter messages from friends of the accused and fellow partygoers, and, most infamously, a 12-minute video of Steubenville student Mike Nodianos making a series of graphic jokes about the victim: "She is so raped right now... They raped her quicker than Mike Tyson raped that one girl." (On Sunday, one of the associated groups released audio of what it claimed to be Nodianos' voicemail inbox.) The trial's new judge—the original recused over ties to the football team—has allowed media to be present at the trial, but has forbidden cell phones, iPads and laptops. [NYT | The Atlantic Wire | Jezebel | Deadspin]