Student sues Ohio college to play football this season

A convicted rapist is suing an Ohio college after the school cut him from the football team following a petition led by a female student.

Ma’lik Richmond was 16 when he and a Steubenville High School teammate digitally penetrated a drunk, underage girl after attending a string of parties in the Ohio town in August 2012.

He spent 10 months of a juvenile detention center after being found guilty of rape at the end of a highly publicized trial and then quietly slipped out of the public eye while the national debate of campus rape and rape culture intensified.

Now 21, he attends Youngstown State University where he was recruited to play for their football team. But Richmond was told he couldn’t play this season after a female student circulated a petition asking that he be kept off the team. 

Ma’lik Richmond (pictured in court in 2014) was 16 when he and a Steubenville High School teammate digitally penetrated a drunk, underage girl after attending a string of parties in the Ohio town in August 2012 

Richmond, of Steubenville, filed the federal lawsuit Wednesday demanding he be reinstated to the team’s active roster, along with attorney fees and an unspecified amount of damages.

U.S. District Judge Benita Pearson will consider Richmond’s arguments for reinstatement during a hearing Thursday afternoon in Youngstown.

A university spokesman declined to comment on Thursday. 

However, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office submitted a scathing reply on behalf of the university, as to why Richmond’s petition for relief shouldn’t be granted. 

‘Proving no deed goes unpunished,’ the Attorney General wrote in a statement, that the school has been ‘hauled into court by a student that YSU has bent over backward to assist, support and provide a second chance when no one else would.’

‘The rest of the world had written Plaintiff off as an unrepentant rapist, but YSU encouraged him and integrated him as ‘part of the student community,’ ‘ the reply said.

Now 21, he attends Youngstown State University where he was recruited to play for their football team (pictured)

Now 21, he attends Youngstown State University where he was recruited to play for their football team (pictured)

Ma'lik Richmond (left at his 2013 rape trial) has been recruited by Youngstown State University football coach Bo Pelini

Ma'lik Richmond (left at his 2013 rape trial) has been recruited by Youngstown State University football coach Bo Pelini

Ma’lik Richmond (left at his 2013 rape trial) was recruited by Youngstown State University football coach Bo Pelini (right)

Richmond enrolled at YSU (above) last year but did not seek out a spot on the team. The coach approached him and said he was a 'humble' student 

Richmond enrolled at YSU (above) last year but did not seek out a spot on the team. The coach approached him and said he was a ‘humble’ student 

One of Richmond’s attorneys said Thursday morning she had just begun reading the reply.

‘I am frankly shocked at what I’m starting to read,’ Susan Stone told The Associated Press. ‘They don’t understand how they threw someone under the bus. We’re hopeful the judge will want to enforce Ma’lik’s civil rights this afternoon.’

Richmond walked straight back on to the Steubenville football team in 2014 after spending 10 months in a juvenile facility 

Richmond served less than a year in a juvenile lockup after he and Steubenville High School teammate Trent May were convicted in 2013 of raping the 16-year-old girl during an alcohol-fueled party. 

He was released in January 2014 and subsequently attended colleges in West Virginia and Pennsylvania before transferring to Youngstown State in the fall of 2016 as a sophomore.

Richmond and his legal guardians spoke with YSU President Jim Tressel and football coach Bo Pelini about him joining the team and both were supportive, the lawsuit said. Richmond made the team as walk-on defensive end in January.

According to the lawsuit, Richmond excelled during Youngstown State’s spring game and was told by Pelini he would play this season and would be a big help to the team. 

Pelini told the Youngstown Vindicator newspaper that he alone decided to allow Richmond to join the team after conducting his own investigation.

The day after the August 4 article, a female student at Youngstown State began circulating a petition calling for the school to not allow Richmond to play football.

The unidentified victim has not spoken publicly about the case but has reportedly discussed a film based on her assault with Brad Pitt's production company

The unidentified victim has not spoken publicly about the case but has reportedly discussed a film based on her assault with Brad Pitt’s production company

Images of the victim being assaulted in 2012 were shared on social media, humiliating her a second time

Images of the victim being assaulted in 2012 were shared on social media, humiliating her a second time

Richmond’s lawsuit said that Pelini called Greg Agresta, one of Richmond’s guardians, on August 9 and said there was pressure being exerted on the university’s Board of Trustees. Pelini told Agresta that Tressel, a famed football coach at Youngstown State and Ohio State, had proposed that Richmond become a practice player and wait until next season to play.

Agresta and his wife, Jen, ‘spoke with Coach Pelini later that day and he informed them that Ma’lik was practicing and performing better than ever and probably would be a starter at some point,’ the lawsuit said.

Youngstown State subsequently issued a statement in a university-wide email that said the school ‘takes the matter of sexual assault very seriously’ and that Richmond would be allowed to continue practicing with the team but would lose a year of eligibility.

Richmond became ‘despondent’ after learning of the email and quit the team, prompting Pelini, a position coach and three players to travel to Steubenville. The lawsuit said Pelini apologized to Richmond and told him he had the skills to play in the National Football League.

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