STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — In a case that bitterly divided this Rust Belt city, two members of its celebrated high-school football team were found guilty yesterday of raping a drunken 16-year-old girl.
Steubenville High students Trent Mays and Ma’Lik Richmond were each sentenced to at least a year in juvenile jail.
Mays was given an additional year on a charge of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material.
The verdicts capped a sensational case brought to light by a barrage of morning-after text messages, social-media posts and online photos and video.
Mays, 17, and Richmond, 16, apologized to the girl in tears after hearing the verdict. Richmond sobbed so heavily that he had to be helped back to his seat.
His father, Nathaniel, also spoke, asking the girl’s family to “forgive Ma’Lik and Trent for the pain they put you through.”
Mays and Richmond were found guilty of digitally penetrating the West Virginia girl in the back seat of a moving car after an alcohol-fueled party last Aug. 11 and later in the basement of a house.
The state attorney general pledged to look into allegations that more students should have been charged but weren’t as part of a coverup to protect the team. Authorities have denied the charge.