Although two guilty verdicts were passed down in the Steubenville rape case, Mike DeWine, the Ohio Attorney General told reporters he is going to, “convene a grand jury to see whether more people should be charged.” There were at least 16 witnesses who refused to talk to investigators, and they all may be facing charges that include “failure to report child abuse or failure to report a felony.”
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Photo: AP/File
There are a few problems with filing more charges. One, I am unaware of any case in which a minor has been charged with failing to report child abuse. That would set a dangerous precedent that would allow the state to charge children who fail to stop anything from bullying to familial violence. Two, if I understand the AG correctly, he only intends to file charges against those who did not assist in the state’s case. Well, that violates the children’s 5th Amendment rights. They do not have to testify or give any statements to the police. Unless the AG… Read more »
Thanks Jacob – It just makes it clear that DeWine and his followers are being political and media savvy to pander to interest groups who are happy to exploit the whole case.
Of course such interest groups do have well developed selective media amnesia and limited attention span so once that have been pandered to and had sufficient media pampering to satisfy need …. they just forget and move on! Maybe DeWine is not just being political, just canny in getting a quite life with minimal effort for major peace and quite return?
Wow – so now if a person has been raped and wondering about reporting it, they are going to have to consider if anyone may not be co-operative with law enforcement and a Grand Jury may follow? Odd – cos if the Grand Jury has been used in the first place, there is more likely to ahve been better quality evidence and more prosecutions and convictions. Some folks really do need to ask questions and stop running with the pack and howling because it feels good – makes them a group member – and carries a poor quality feel good… Read more »