quote:

What am I doing about it? Signing petitions, volunteering at rape centers, helping friends who have been raped, and taking an active interest in male rapes and violence through various mediums.

Sadly, you cant say any of that, even helping out the males you so bitterly complain about.

quote:

ORIGINAL: naughtynick81

Yeah not like they have family and friends for that lol

quote:

ORIGINAL: muhly22222

Unfortunately, this is small towns in rural Ohio for you, especially when those small towns are competing for the state title in football every year. I know, I'm from one myself. I never heard of classmates getting away (or committing) anything even approaching this, but it wasn't uncommon for DUIs or drug charges to disappear.

While the kids certainly have the entirety of the blame on them for committing these despicable acts, I'm much more disturbed by the adults. The football coach's role isn't all that surprising, and small-town sheriffs are frequently influenced by strong athletic records. I'm most disturbed, though, by the role the prosecutor played. That might just be because I'm an attorney myself, and believe in standards of behavior and morality (I know...how naive). But her constant ignorance of the rule of law is utterly shocking.

That being said, I do have some problems with that article. First, don't download the email files. If you do, you could be committing a felony - possession of child pornography. There are supposedly pornographic images of girls who appear to be underage. No matter what your reason for downloading the files is, you are committing a crime if they are of underage girls. Second, when the sheriff said that it is not a crime to be at the parties, he was right, in contrast to what the article said. Merely knowing that a crime is being committed and doing nothing to stop it (including informing the authorities) is not a crime itself, unless the person not acting had a special relationship with one of the parties (child-parent, patient-caretaker, etc.). That probably wouldn't exist between the kids at the parties and the victim.

However, people who had their pictures taken with the victim or otherwise encouraged their behavior (cheering them on, for instance) could be guilty as accomplices. Merely being there and watching does not lead to criminal liability, though.

quote:

ORIGINAL: DarkSteven

It's not the rapists. It's the culture about them that permits this. You've got teenage boys, chock full of hormones, and a bunch of adults around them that condone rape. If there was a serious smackdown, this would be unlikely to occur again.

I hate to say this, but the adults did not seem to think that this was out of the ordinary. I'd be surprised if this was the first time that they covered up for rape, beatings, etc.

quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen

The details are too long to repost here. They are all here:
http://localleaks.blogs.ru/

What are we coming to when this sort of thing can not only go on but the perpetrators are actively protected by an entire community?

quote:

ORIGINAL: cordeliasub

Sadly, growing up in the south.....this is not the first story I have heard like this. Football is a religion that trumps EVERYTHING for some people...especially in rural redneck towns. It is disgusting. And yes, it would still be disgusting if these football players were raping boys or if the cheerleaders were.

quote:

ORIGINAL: cordeliasub

Sadly, growing up in the south.....this is not the first story I have heard like this. Football is a religion that trumps EVERYTHING for some people...especially in rural redneck towns. It is disgusting. And yes, it would still be disgusting if these football players were raping boys or if the cheerleaders were.

quote:

I'm sure it's not. Like Cordeliasub mentioned, it's usually just bred into the culture. Football really is like a religion to some towns, especially here in the South. As long as they make their moms and pops proud on the field, they let those boys get away with whatever they please. That's part of the reason that football (and other sport) players at universities commit rape and sexual harassment at such a high rate. They're so used to getting away with it and they just see it as another way of showing their physical dominance, be it to abuse women or to gain "manhood" credit from their peers.

quote:

ORIGINAL: PeonForHer

quote:

I'm sure it's not. Like Cordeliasub mentioned, it's usually just bred into the culture. Football really is like a religion to some towns, especially here in the South. As long as they make their moms and pops proud on the field, they let those boys get away with whatever they please. That's part of the reason that football (and other sport) players at universities commit rape and sexual harassment at such a high rate. They're so used to getting away with it and they just see it as another way of showing their physical dominance, be it to abuse women or to gain "manhood" credit from their peers.

I honestly had come to believe that this kind of characterisation of male sports teams at colleges and unis in the USA was exaggerated in the films and TV shows that have depicted it. Apparently not, though. That really does give me the shudders.