Where Are They Now?

FINALLY! Everyone was able to see the documentary Roll Red Roll on POV/PBS last night and since then I’ve had a lot of people asking where are they now? So…I am going to provide some information. I hadn’t kept up with any of the kids involved over the years until about a month ago when I figured I should take a look in case people were asking, and of course, to satisfy my own curious nature. I ask questions like, how had they changed from uncaring adolescents to hopefully more compassionate adults? Had they left the microcosm of Steubenville for other places where they would see that life elsewhere isn’t like it is in the valley? Many of them appear to still be close friends. Some look like they have changed – others…not so much. Those who haven’t changed much, I truly hope that women who date them or befriend them will do a search on their names so that they are at least informed.

Jane Doe

She is living her best life. <3

Trent Mays

Trent Mays was adjudicated delinquent and spent two years in juvenile detention. Upon his release he didn’t return to Steubenville High School. Instead he went to the neighboring school system and did not play football there, that I am aware of. Upon graduation he went to Hocking Technical College near Athens, Ohio and was the team captain and quarterback of the newly formed football team. There was pushback from the community, but nothing really became of it. Go figure. It’s yet more evidence that athletics holds a higher place in society than doing what’s right or protecting women from sexual predators. Trent left Hocking College and somehow ended up at Central State University in Ohio. I spoke with former employees there who told me that no one knew Trent was transferring there – not even the Title IX coordinator. It was said that it was solely the athletics department who brought him in. There wasn’t much notice of him on campus until he was accused of sexual assault…again.

Trent Mays won’t be found on a public sex offender registry as Ohio law allows juveniles to register with their Sheriff’s Department in the county they reside in and the only way for someone to know if someone who was convicted as a juvenile is on a sex offender list is to call the Sheriff’s Office. Trent should have graduated from Central State this spring. It is unknown whether he has returned to Steubenville or not.

Ma’lik Richmond

Ma’lik Richmond was adjudicated delinquent and spent 10 months in juvenile detention. Upon his release, he returned to Steubenville High School and wait for it…rejoined the football team.

A convicted rapist who was at the center of one of the ugliest sagas in recent prep sports history is back on his school’s football team, less than two years after the alleged assault took place.

As reported by Cleveland ABC affiliate WEWS and Wheeling, W. Va. CBS affiliate WTRF, among other outlets, Ma’lik Richmond rejoined the Steubenville High Big Red football team on Monday with the blessing of the team’s longtime head coach, Reno Saccoccia.

Richmond was released from juvenile detention in January 2014 after serving 10 months following his conviction on sexual assault charges. Richmond’s conviction classified him as a Tier II sex offender, which requires him to register with state officials every 180 days for the next 20 years. It’s no surprise that Richmond’s reinstatement generated a firestorm of controversy both in Ohio and nationwide, as many expressed outrage over the perceived leniency in his punishment.

Source: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/2014/08/14/malik-richmond-convicted-steubenville-rapist-back-schools-football-team/14074967/

Ma’lik then went on to attend Youngstown State and was able to get on the football team. His arrival there was not well received by the women at the school and they petitioned the university and had protests. Ma’lik was removed from the team and responded with a lawsuit which eventually settled. The university allowed him back on the football team. It is said that he is training and is trying to play football professionally.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -A settlement has been reached in the civil rights lawsuit filed by a Youngstown State University football player against the university according to a court document.

Ma’lik Richmond, of Steubenville, filed the lawsuit Sept. 13 after Youngstown State University allowed him to join the football team and then told him he couldn’t play this season.

A judge issued a temporary order the next day allowing Richmond to play until a Sept. 28 hearing on whether to make the order permanent.
Richmond played in the home game that following weekend.

Some members of the community expressed outrage upon learning that Richmond was one of two high school football players who was convicted of raping a 17-year-old girl at a party. Richmond served a year in juvenile detention as a result.

A motion filed Monday in U.S. District Court by attorneys representing both sides asks for the case to be dismissed, saying that the issues have been resolved.

Ma’lik petitioned the juvenile court to remove his sexual offender status and his petition was granted. He will never have to register as a sex offender again.

Mark Cole

Mark Cole’s home is where the crime occurred and location C in the documentary. As you recall, Mark Cole, Anthony Craig and Evan Westlake were all granted immunity for their testimony. Mark joined the USMC and is back in the Steubenville area coaching wrestling and some sort of MMA fighting as evidenced by an ad on his Facebook page.

Marine Corps vet living life one day at a time snap @magic_mark35

Anthony Craig

Anthony graduated from college. He was implicated in the April 2012 rape but was never charged. Currently he is involved in youth sports in Steubenville.
https://www.facebook.com/anthony.craig.9275

Evan Westlake

Evan Westlake filmed the infamous Nodi video. He may be going to pharmacy school, but not much was ever heard of or from him after the case went viral. He and the others have stayed out of the spotlight. 
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007517445602

Michael Nodianos

After graduation “Nodi” went on to OSU with a full scholarship and had to leave Ohio State University when people found out he was attending there. His video is so repugnant that it will probably follow him for the rest of his life, and he has never spoken publicly about it nor apologized. In fact, none of those involved have ever made any public statement of apology for their behavior and I doubt they ever will.

Farrah Marcino

Farrah was the young girl seen in the beginning of the film while speaking to detectives where she said she didn’t intervene because Jane Doe wasn’t one of her friends. Farrah is a mother now and I can only hope that as a mother she will teach her daughter to be kind to others and to look out for them – even if they are outsiders. So much would be different from that night if just one person had reached out to an adult or to police to help Jane Doe.

Mike McVey, Former Steubenville Superintendent

He resigned and was later hired as a principal at a neighboring elementary school. It blows my mind that anyone would hire him after being charged with tampering with evidence and trying to cover up rapes.

Defamation Suit & Mean Tweets

In October I was sued for defamation by the Saltsman family. Cody Saltsman, the ex-boyfriend of Jane Doe, is who took the picture of her being carried by her wrists and ankles. Not only was I sued, but 25 John Doe anonymous commenters were sued. It is my belief, that the goal was to unmask the anonymous identities of my commenters here so that their identities would be known. This concerned me greatly because they were nearly all locals and were using pseudonyms to protect themselves from backlash in town. Through my attorneys Jeff Nye and Tom Hardin we were able to get the ACLU of Ohio involved to represent the commenters here and on December 27, 2012 a press release was issued by the ACLU that the Saltsmans were dismissing the case with prejudice and that I would allow Cody to post an apology here on my blog.

I was living in California during this time and had gone to great lengths to keep my location private. I had to leave my home in the Mojave Desert because the wife of one of the Ohio BCI agents on the case posted my address on Twitter. I don’t know how she was able to get the address. I didn’t even get mail at my home. I had 4 miles of sand in either direction to a main road and the mail didn’t even deliver to my house, but somehow she was able to obtain my physical location and posted it on Twitter – surely as a means of intimidation since she was friends with and participated in the harassment that was occurring. The sad thing is – at one time I considered her my best friend. I was her maid of honor and when the chips fell, she chose to side with her community. Her mother, Georgiann Allen, who is in her 70s tweeted to me that she hoped my friends and I got AIDS and died a slow death. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, right? Overall, I really think that it shows the culture in Steubenville among some in town. They have never had consequences based on who they are and so they think they can act this way without consequence.

There were many Steubenville football moms, teachers, court system staff and even the Jefferson County Assistant Prosecutor got involved.

There are so many screenshots that I just can’t post here. It would take forever to load, but I did take all that I could find minus a ton in pdf form and self published a book of screenshots that I gathered during my research and that documented the harassment once I had started blogging about the case.

As for me…I got REALLY sick due to the stress this caused me. I ended up getting diverticulitis and had to have a colon resection. 8″ of colon…thank ya very much. Oh, and I finally bought a lampshade LOL I was so sick in that scene where I am talking about not filing a lawsuit just because someone is mean. I was only about a month post-op resection and was in pretty bad shape. WORST SURGERY EVER! Oh yeah….and I quit smoking. Yay me!

I’m living in Columbus, Ohio now. I really don’t like Ohio and hated that I had to come back here, but at the time it was the least likely place any crazy person would look for me. Finally I couldn’t stand the fact that I felt I was living in hiding so I disclosed that I was in Columbus and essentially took away any power that these people had with their threats or intimidation of knowing where I lived. 

Winnie and Wilson are doing great! Wilson is 17 years old and Winnie is 9. And I have two birds now. It’s a zoo here, but I like it.

I’m good. Life has had its ups and downs but that’s life, right? We are malleable, ever-changing beings and we adapt and overcome. Life is filled with good and bad and it is up to us to pick what we focus on. I opt to focus on the good and cling desperately to hope that things will get better and that they WILL change.

I think employers in my town are probably afraid when they Google me, so I am looking for work. I’m available for speaking engagements and training. If you need research or consulting work — give me a yell! You can check my other site for credentials and what I do: alexandriagoddard.me

Here are some obligatory pics of the dogs and birbs. Have a great day!