3 Ohio men rape 17-year-old girl when she was unconscious, post video of assault on Snapchat: Cops
Three men in Ohio allegedly raped a 17-year-old girl when she was unconscious and posted the video on Snapchat, said police.
Quentin Smith and Alexander Wood, both 18, were arraigned in Warren County Common Pleas Court in Mason on Wednesday and Dominic Cboins, also 18, is to be arraigned on November 22, Fox 19 reported. Bond for Wood and Smith has been set for $25,000 each and they are currently at the Warren County jail.
According to Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell, the incident occurred in April at a hotel room at Mason Inn wherein the victim was not able to resist because she as drunk. She had had a bottle of Parrot Bay rum and had been slipping in and out of consciousness and throwing up. After her boyfriend left the hotel room, they raped her, reported Local 12. Wood and Smith filmed the video and are facing additional charges.
"This particular victim didn’t have any idea the extent of what had happened because she was passed out. During the course of the evening, two of the two defendants were sending out Snapchat photographs that were showing her passed out and being sexually assaulted," he said, according to Fox 19.
"It’s disgusting that in today’s age anyone still believes that engaging in sexual conduct with a woman who is passed out is anything other than sexual assault. Then, to film the sexual assault and send it to others via Snapchat — it’s sickening," Fornshell said, according to Local 12.
After the alleged incident, Wood had been calling and contacting her on social media, Assistant Prosecutor Kirsten Brandt said. According to court documents, Smith and Wood are each charged with one count of rape, one count of sexual battery, one count of use of a minor in nude material or performance and three counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor while Cboins is charged with one count of rape and one count of sexual battery.
WCPO reported that the suspects had thought that they would get away because Snapchat videos disappear after 24 hours. "We have ways that we can get the Snapchat videos," Sgt. Brian Hounshell, with the Warren County Sheriff's Office, said.
He added that even if the cops cannot get their hands on the original video, a witness who has seen the video would be enough for a conviction. "All of our crimes nowadays, it does have to do with social media," WCPO quoted Hounshell as saying. "That's how we get a lot of our evidence is because of that."
The teens also have prior criminal records that also include domestic violence, the prosecutors said.