(UDHAYAM, OHIO) – An Ohio high-school student has been sentenced to nine months in prison for capturing and live streaming images of her friend being raped.
Nineteen year-old Marina Lonina was accused of using social media app Periscope to showcase the assault of her seventeen year-old friend — who remains unnamed — by a 29 year-old man in February of 2016.
On Monday, Lonina pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice, and received the penalty of nine months incarceration. According to the New York Daily News, she previously faced charges for rape and pandering, “sexual matter involving a minor.” The sentence she received was the product of a deal she struck with the prosecutors.
The 29 year-old accused rapist — Raymond Gates — first met the two girls at a mall. Sam Shamansky, Lonina’s attorney, argued in court that, “[Gates] comes on to them, he encourages them with alcohol… he buys them a bottle of vodka that day, further encourages them to meet the next day, which my client’s friend, the victim, wanted to do.” (Gates has since pleaded guilty to the charged and received a prison sentence of nine years.) “You don’t want to lose track of the fact that she’s a high school student,” Shamansky continued, “and [she] and her friend were clearly taken advantage of.”
Ron O’Brien, the prosecutor on the case, noted though, “I have never seen a case such as this where you would actually live-stream a sexual assault.” Lonina is under fire for failing to call 911 when the attack was occurring, instead choosing to livestream the 10-minute-long rape for all to see. The video was instead reported to the authorities by one of Lonina’s followers.
According to the New York Times, O’Brien has noted that while the teen’s apparent intentions may have been to publicize the event in hopes of stopping it, she, “became enthralled by positive feedback online,” and continued her Periscope broadcast. (Courtesy – Cosmopolitan)
