The Sad, Horrible Story of Steubenville, Ohio’s ‘Rape Crew’

Details are emerging about a very ugly incident that took place in Steubenville, Ohio, over the summer, involving the very public sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl. The bare bones of the story are this: Last August, the young woman was heavily intoxicated at an end-of-the-summer party. The next day, she woke to find out, through social media taunts, YouTube videos and even Instagram pictures that she had been assaulted while unconscious. And, apparently, nobody at the party had seen fit to do anything about it besides record it for online posterity. Two 16-year-old members of the Steubenville High School football team, in particular, are facing rape charges, though few witnesses have been willing to come forward. But the online-hacktavist collective known as Anonymous—which has been slowly making its way offline into borderline vigilante justice of late—are alleging that the cover-up goes way beyond high school students. They’re saying that Steubenville’s deep love of its football program has motivated a massive cover-up, involving football coaches, prosecutors and even parents—a group they’re calling “The Rape Crew.” Anonymous isn’t exactly known for investigative journalism, but its leak—termed “The Steubenville Files”—has piqued the ears of no less than CNN, which has sent its own team of journalists to see what they can dig up …