Rape

May 8 2013

Suspect wouldn’t let family inside

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Ropes and chains have been found inside the Cleveland home where police say three women spent close to a decade in captivity, city officials said Wednesday.

While Public Safety Director Martin Flask said investigators haven’t confirmed how the ropes and chains were used, police Chief Michael McGrath told NBC’s “Today” that they were used to restrain the missing women.

“We have confirmation that they were bound,” he told NBC.

Apr 12 2013

Failed to show “appropriate level of remorse"

NEW YORK, N.Y. — Hip Hop artist Rick Ross learned Thursday he’d been dumped by the sportswear company Reebok after the company decided he hadn’t shown an “appropriate level of remorse” for using lyrics in one of his songs that seemed to allude to raping a woman.

In the song “U.O.E.N.O,” Ross raps: “Put molly all in her champagne, she ain’t even know it. I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain’t even know it.”

Mar 19 2013

Every two minutes, someone in the United States is sexually assaulted

When the judge’s gavel fell, the future had been decided for the two teenagers convicted of rape in Steubenville, Ohio.

Trent Mays, 17, and Ma’lik Richmond, 16, will spend at least a year in a juvenile correctional facility, although authorities could decide to keep them in custody until they turn 21. Both must undergo treatment and will have to register as sex offenders.

For the 16-year-old victim, the next steps aren’t so clear.

Mar 18 2013

Two teens arrested after Twitter threats to victim

It’s not over in Steubenville, Ohio.

Although a judge has found two Steubenville teenagers guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl in a case that showcased jaw-dropping examples of teenage alcohol use and tawdry text messaging—all wrapped in allegations of a cover-up—Ohio’as attorney general said Monday it’s now time for a grand jury to look at whether anyone else should be charged.

Jan 14 2013

Also charged with 2007 rape

COMPTON, Calif.—A 35-year-old man was charged today with murdering a 17-year-old girl whose burning body was found in a South Los Angeles street, and with assaulting and raping a woman in 2007.

Damond Williams was arrested Thursday in connection with the Sept. 17 death of the teen, whose body was found on Grand Avenue just north of 94th Street, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.