#cody saltsman

[mindfuller]

They're going to get away with it

The "Steubenville rapists" started their sentences this week and we can all breathe a sigh of relief, right?

Wrong.

A small group of people with intimate knowledge of the events surrounding the rape believe that Trent Mays and Ma'lik Richmond were victims of a conspiracy, if you will, or a revenge plot gone wrong, if you won't.

A particularly tragic example of revenge gone wrong hit the headlines across the UK this week, with Mick Philpott being found guilty of manslaughter. His crime? He and his wife Mairead hatched and carried out a plan to set fire to their own home in an attempt to frame Mick's former lover, Lisa Willis, who had walked out with their four children three months earlier. The fire started hours before Philpott was due to face Willis in court for a custody hearing. In the months prior, Philpott had spread rumours that Willis wanted to firebomb the house. The plan was for Philpott to rescue his children and for Willis to be prosecuted for arson but the carefully crafted revenge plot went horribly wrong, resulting in the deaths of five of Philpott's own children and Mairead's son from a previous marriage. They were assisted by Philpott's best friend, Paul Mosley, who joined the couple in a threesome on the family snooker table mere hours before the children died.

These three did not get away with murder.

But those who might ultimately be responsible for setting in motion the tragic events that unfolded that August night in Steubenville may well still get away with rape…

The person accused of ring-leading this conspiracy is Cody Saltsman, an ex-boyfriend of the young girl at the centre of the Steubenville rape case. They broke up mere months before her rape, leaving him heartbroken and angry. Who knows what caused the split. Who cares? Teenage love is fickle; it is an exploration of blossoming desires.

Within weeks, Trent Mays begins chatting to the girl online. She obviously has a crush on him and it's not the first time she has had a crush on a star athlete. And why on earth not? She is herself an honour-roll student and accomplished sportswoman. She doesn't strike me as the type of girl to be a groupie, she strikes me as the sort of person who is trying to seek out people of equal standing.

So this Trent guy seems to like her and she's newly single (she was with Cody for the best part of a year). Who wouldn't go with this hot guy on a wild evening of partying?

This Trent guy seems to like her.

Some would argue that's because he is only pretending to like her.

He's only pretending to like her because his good buddy, Cody, wants to get revenge on this bitch. Trent will pretend to like her and then maybe they'll slip a little something in her drink. She'll be drunk anyway and nobody will notice. She'll be all sloppy drunk and it will be so humiliating for her. Everyone will see that sloppy bitch at the party and it's going to be all over Instagram, she'll never live this down. That will teach her for humiliating Cody in front of everyone like that.

And so the carefully crafted revenge plot swings into motion…

Perhaps they elaborated a bit. If she really is such a cheating whore then she'll do it with anyone. Do you think she'd put out for Trent if she was wasted enough? What about a threesome? That will show everyone what a slut she is when they find out…

Cody Saltsman sued Alexandria Goddard (a.k.a. Prinnie, the blogger who broke the story) after she surfaced the allegations of his involvement in the rape on her blog and in discussions.

After reaching a settlement and voluntarily dismissing the case with prejudice, Cody Saltsman issued the following statement:

"I deeply regret my actions on the night of August 11, 2012. While I wasn't at the home where the alleged assault took place, there is no doubt that I was wrong to post that picture from an earlier party and tweet those awful comments... At no time did my family mean to stop anyone from expressing themselves online – we only wanted to correct what we believed were misstatements that appeared on Ms. Goddard's blog."

He uses guarded language: excusing himself with an alibi before apologising for a very restricted set of actions and referring to "believed" misstatements about his involvement in the case.

This same guarded language was echoed in Trent Mays' apology:

"I would like to apologize to [the victim] and her family, my family and the community. No pictures should have been sent let alone ever taken."

Since Cody Saltsman had legal representation from early on (due to the Prinnie fiasco) and he was able to prove that he was not present at the time the rape was committed, he was outside the scope of the initial investigation leading up to the trial of Trent and Ma'lik.

A Grand Jury will convene in a few days to investigate the wider scope of people involved in the events surrounding the rape. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine (who was the judge presiding over the trial who appointed attorneys Marianne Hemmeter and Brian Deckert in the Special Prosecutions Section to handle the case, after it was given to his office when Jefferson County Prosecutor Jane Hanlin recused herself after filing the charges against Trent and Ma'lik) said:

"I think the Steubenville community needs really two things. One is to get this over with, but the other is to believe that justice has been done, that we have left no stone unturned and that anyone who is criminally liable has been brought to justice."

If Cody is indeed completely innocent (except, of course, for encouraging and condoning the rape by requesting pictures and details) then he has nothing left to hide.

On the other hand, if Cody Saltsman is guilty of the things that people implied on Alexandria Goddard's blog then he may just get away with it. His little revenge plot may have cost two of his friends their freedom but it sure as hell got revenge on Jane Doe.

Let's hope that Cody Saltsman will be one of many stones not left unturned.

[cr0okshanks-blog]

So I've been reading about the Steubenville rape case with Malik Richmond, Cody Saltsman, and Trent Mays. For those of you who don't know, August 11th 2012, a 16 year old girl was at an end-of-summer party and had a lot to drink. Cody Saltsman, the victim's ex boyfriend, set her up and is said to have given her drugs to knock her unconscious, aiding in the rape. Saltsman also took photos of the victim being sexually assaulted by Mays and Richmond and posted them on Instagram and Twitter. The big question is, WHY didn't ANYONE help the victim? Did no one realize what was happening? That this girl was being assaulted while she was unable to defend herself? WHY did nobody stop the boys?

This reminds me of a discussion from Psychology in my first semester of college. We were discussing the bystander effect, which is the theory that the more people are around during an event, the less likely it is someone will do something to stop it. On March 13th, 1964, Kitty Genovese was brutally murdered in Queens, New York. There were 48 witnesses watching from their homes, calling each other, asking what to do. FOURTY EIGHT WITNESSES. NO ONE DID ANYTHING. 

Is it that hard to call the police, or to intervene? Please, to anyone who reads this, or has any self respect or morals, DO SOMETHING. 

[saxes-and-summer-blog-blog]

Hypocrisy at it's finest. Disgusting.

[annasdewitt]

I think everyone apart of the Stubenville rape crew deserves the Lisabeth Salander treatment. AmIrite?

[vivelamemoires]

[carolinekrunchy]

LMFAO and the kid is trying to apologize to the Knight Sec of Anonymous. I literally am I the best mood right now. I've NEVER taken this much enjoyment out of someone's soon to be suffering. Dude, you are royally FUCKED and you know it.