Convicted Steubenville Rapist Playing Football Again

By WTRF

12 August 14

a'Lik Richmond, one of two teens convicted in the rape of a 16-year-old girl in Steubenville, is back on the roster of the Steubenville Big Red football team.

Richmond was found delinquent of raping a 16-year-old girl in March 2013, and must register as a Tier II sex offender every 180 days for 20 years.

Richmond was released from an Ohio Juvenile Detention Center on January 6, 2014, and in June of this year, the 7th District Court of Appeals upheld his sexual offender classification. Richmond and his attorney had originally fought to have that sex offender classification dropped, but the Court of Appeals felt otherwise. Judge Thomas Lipps had ruled earlier that his sentence was to be contingent on behavior and rehabilitation while serving. Trent Mays, also convicted in the case, must also register as a Tier II sex offender upon his release.

When reached for comment, Jefferson County Chief Probation Officer Fred Abdalla Jr. said, "There's no law against it that states he can't play. There's no OHSA rules that they'd be violating, then I think the boy should be allowed to play. Malik Richmond has done everything the court has asked him since he's been sentenced."

Interim Superintendent Melinda Young says part of the current athletic policy states that any student convicted of a felony will be suspended for one calendar year.