Breaking: Superintendent and three school employees indicted in Steubenville rape case

A school superintendent, principal, and two coaches have been charged in connection with last year’s rape case in Steubenville. NBC news reports:

An Ohio grand jury investigating an alleged cover-up in the Steubenville rape case has indicted four more people, including the school superintendent and an assistant football coach.

Superintendent Michael McVey was charged with tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice in the aftermath of the incident at the center of the case: the sexual assault of a drunken 16-year-old girl by two high school football players after a booze-fueled party in August 2012.

A volunteer assistant coach, Matthew Belardine, was charged with allowing underage drinking, obstructing official business and making a false statement.

Two school employees, strength coach Seth Fluharty and elementary-school principal Lynette Gorman, were charged with failure to report child abuse.

From the beginning, it seemed clear that other members of the community–including adults–knew about the awful events that happened that night. (The two football players who were eventually convicted of rape were even under the impression that their head coach Reno Saccoccia “took care of it.”) “What you have people is people who were not worried about a victim. They were worried about other things,” Ohio AG Mike DeWine said in announcing the charges.

I’m glad to see the grand jury starting to hold them accountable. We’ll keep you updated as the case progresses.

Maya Dusenbery is an Executive Director of Feministing.