180 degrees

The Ohio town of Steubenville was once was bustling steel and coal centre but, like many similar locations across the US, been in decline for several decades.

Before last August, it was an otherwise anonymous town known only for the achievements of its high school football team. Then, as last summer came to a close, something went wrong.

Very wrong.

Two 16-year-old players from the football team have been charged with the rape of a 16-year-old girl from a neighboring town. But that’s not the worst part of the story.

The victim was allegedly drugged or drunk, possibly urinated on, and carried unconscious from party to party over a long night “celebrating” the end of summer and beginning of the football season.

All hail the internet. The night’s events played out across social media with various observers and participants posting real time online videos and comments of the incident.

One of the more appalling videos, posted on YouTube, shows individuals with apparent knowledge of the events mocking the fate of the victim, describing her as “dead”.

(WARNING: This video will be distubring for some viewers). Video

The incident would likely have been kept in-town without the attention of a former Steubenville resident called Alexandria Goddard who blogged on the alleged rape.

Goddard drew national attention to the incident and especially to the perceived slow response from police, prosecutors, and those who defended the actions of the football players. She was also sued for defamation by one of the football team members. The suit was recently dropped.

The New York Times profiled the town and incident, uncovering a culture that idolised the teenage football players and portrayed a section of the population defending the players and their actions.

Reporters from the paper approached Steubenville’ High School’s football coach, a high profile figure in town, to comment on the allegations.

Chillingly, he told the reporters: “You made me mad now… You’re going to get yours. And if you don’t get yours, somebody close to you will.”

According to the paper’s report, neither the school’s principal nor other senior officials spoke to any of the students about the night’s events. They left that job to the coach.

If they weren’t getting angry, others were blaming the victim; the whole mess was apparently a plot to ruin a football team.

One of the football team’s assistant coaches said: “The rape was just an excuse, I think. What else are you going to tell your parents when you come home drunk like that and after a night like that? She had to make up something. Now people are trying to blow up our football program because of it.”

Social media played a major role in the incident beyond the initial Tweets and posts from the night in question.

The hacking organisation known as Anonymous took on a role uncovering – unverified – information on the protagonists.

Under pressure from the fallout, the City of Steubenville last weekend launched its own website on the case, outlining its position.

City Manager Cathy Davison said its website meant to change perception that “everyone in Steubenville is acting or is like the individuals that are involved in the case. That we are a community that is run by football. That is not the case.”

India has received a lot of attention – for good reason – recently. But often, things are not that much better closer to home.