Grand Jury Begins Work in Ohio Rape Investigation
A grand jury prepared to start examining evidence and hearing from witnesses in the case of a 16-year-old girl raped by two high school football players after an alcohol-fueled party last summer.
The 14-person panel which by law meets secretly is investigating whether other laws were broken in connection with the August attack in Steubenville in eastern Ohio.
One of the questions before the grand jury, which begins its work on Tuesday, is likely to be whether adults like coaches or school administrators may have known about the rape allegation but failed to report it.
School superintendent Mike McVey has previously acknowledged that he, other administrators and head football coach Reno Saccoccia were interviewed by investigators in the days leading up to the March trial.
Text messages introduced at trial indicated that Saccoccia may have known about the allegation but didn’t report it, which if true would violate Ohio law requiring coaches and others to report suspected abuse.