School superintendent is charged with obstruction in Steubenville rape investigation
A grand jury in Ohio has indicted the Steubenville schools superintendent on charges of obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence in the investigation of the rape of a 16-year-old girl at a party.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced charges against Superintendent Michael McVey and three other school officials on Monday, report Reuters, CNN and the Associated Press.
“How do you hold kids accountable if you don’t hold the adults accountable?” DeWine asked at the news conference.
DeWine announced the grand jury probe in March 2012 after two high-school football players were convicted on juvenile charges related to the rape. According to the AP account, “The crime shocked many in Steubenville because of the seeming callousness with which other students took out their cellphones to record the attack and gossiped about it online.”
The tampering and obstruction charges against McVey are felonies. He also faces misdemeanor charges of making a false statement and obstructing official business.
Three other school officials were indicted on misdemeanor charges, two of them for alleged failure to report child abuse. Another Steubenville school employee, information technology director William Rhinaman, was indicted last month on charges of tampering with evidence, obstructing justice, obstructing official business and perjury. He pleaded not guilty.
