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Comment by mratzloff | Hacker News Reader

Here's a summary:

A girl in a high school football-obsessed small town went to a party and was assaulted by football players who later bragged about it on Twitter.

A blogger saw the posts (later deleted) and took screenshots. She tried to get justice for the victim by re-posting these on her blog. For this she was hounded relentlessly in the town and a defamation suit was brought against her.

The players bragged that the coach knew about the accusations and would make them go away.

Two of the football players were later given 1 and 2 year sentences in juvenile detention, largely due to the efforts by people who got involved in bringing this case to a wider audience.

As for the hacker...

I've read the linked article, another article, the accused's webpage, and an article by the blogger who stood up for the rape victim, and I still can't figure out exactly what role, if any, this guy had in this mess.

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"was assaulted by"

was raped by

FTFY. Let's not mince words here. This was not merely assault (which can describe something as mild as a punch or a shove). This was rape, committed by multiple parties, followed by degradation on camera for others to see. And, the girl was so drunk/drugged that she probably should have been seen by a doctor...instead the people around her took it as an opportunity to prey upon her.

I meant "sexually assaulted", not simply "assaulted". I didn't omit the word as part of some pro-rape agenda. Anyway, I can't edit it now, unfortunately.

Sexual assault generally means "unwanted penetration" (legally), which includes whatever happened here (unclear exactly from the articles I read).

I didn't omit the word as part of some pro-rape agenda

I'm not sure it's worth your time to contend this. The debate surrounding rape is very if-you-arent-with-us-youre-against-us, so too often it seems it's already a lost battle.

What debate is "surrounding rape" exactly? Are you referring to a debate as to whether rape is ethically permissible or not? If so, where do you hang out?

https://www.google.com/search?q=rape+culture

You're a perfect example for his point.

I thought the poster was referring to something other than "Men's Rights Advocates"; maybe implicitly trotting out the hackneyed "Tumblr SJ crazies" strawmen

In Steubenville, for example, and pretty much anywhere else. Oh, they will not tell you that rape is ethically ok – but they will tell you that something that is rape was nothing of the kind, that she/he asked for it or deserved it or has only herself/himself to blame.

There is a sizeable group of men on the Internet who don't get it, and are very vociferous about it. Cf, "Men's Rights"

A few things that come to mind:

- The concept of "rape culture"

- Questions like, "what should be done about the devastating affects on the life of someone accused (but acquitted) of rape?"

- Taking into consideration the impact on the accused, questions like "should women who make blatantly false or frivolous claims of rape be held liable?"

I don't claim to know the answers to any of these bullet points, but the fact of the matter is they are hotly contested even today- thus, debated.

I was being facetious, trying to get the parent poster to elaborate. I'm quite familiar with the discourse on rape and rape culture.

I am the parent poster.

Haha sorry... been a busy week. I misinterpreted your intent with your original post. Should have indicated that I was being rhetorical/willfully asking the begged question I thought I saw

"unclear exactly from the articles I read"

The participants posted their thoughts during the sex assault in real time to Facebook. It was these threads that Ms. Goddard saved, and which Mr. Lostutter then published (eventually leading to his arrest for 'hacking'). One thread stated that the girl must be dead because "You don't sleep through a wang in the butthole." This suggests that among the various events was someone engaged in anal insertion of their "wang" into the victim. They also bragged about what they themselves termed a "rape" in a separate incident the previous April.

Source: http://m.xojane.com/issues/steubenville-rape-verdict-alexand...

In the actual plea bargain the two that were sentenced admitted to "digital insertion", which is generally understood to be finger penetration. This seems to understate the extent of the rape however, based on the statements they made during the rape to their Facebook accounts.

When I was in college 20 years ago in Boulder the local feminists would get upset when people didn't say "assualt", or if they modified it with "sexual". I always maintained that assault wasn't as bad as rape or "sexual assault", but they wanted nothing of it.

That's an odd collection of feminists, though there are a variety of thoughts on how best to serve the victims of rape and how best to make it understood that rape is a crime of violence (and not merely a harmless act of overzealous sexual desire). I don't think it is common among my friend circle (who are mostly all feminists) to call rape anything other than rape.

He (hacker) published pictures first and made video that was on FB page, but other Anon hacked page.

Here is full story with screenshots and video: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/anonymous-rape-s...

A blogger saw the posts (later deleted) and took screenshots. She tried to get justice for the victim by re-posting these on her blog.

By the way, if anyone is ever in this situation, don't do this on behalf of the victim unless they ask you to. It may very well be perceived as a violation. I don't know the specifics here, but in general, this is not the way to help. Tread lightly. Rape victims are often cast aside by the government who cares only about prosecution and little about healing. We need not do the same in misguided attempts to help. Put the victim first.

It sounds nice to put the victim's wishes first, until you realize that if the perpetrators aren't handled properly they might go on to victimize more people.

Thank you for bringing up something that needs to be considered, but situations like this are too complex for hard rules.

I only bring it up because I've seen the unintended misery it can cause. People sometimes assume that these actions have only positive repercussions, and that just isn't so. This poor girl is plastered across the Internet unconscious, half naked, and abused. And her attackers got a year in juvie. Worth it? I'm not sure. You'd have to ask her.

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