By Rachel Gobep
Ma’lik Richmond was one of two Steubenville High School football players convicted of raping an intoxicated 16-year-old girl while at a party in August 2012. He recently requested to be removed from Ohio’s sex-offender registry.
He was convicted of rape in 2013 and served a one-year sentence in juvenile detention. He was then ordered to register his address for 20 years. Judge Thomas Lipps reclassified Richmond to register once a year for 10 years in 2014, as reported by the Associate Press.
According to Senate Bill 10, which is Ohio’s sex offender registration and notification statute, those who are placed on the registry as a juvenile may petition the court three years later for removal.
The AP wrote that there will be a scheduled hearing at a juvenile court in Steubenville on Thursday, where Lipps will decide whether Richmond should be removed from the registry.
Richmond is currently enrolled as a pre-business student and is a football player at Youngstown State University.
He joined the team as a walk-on in 2017, but when news reached the public, petitions circulated both in favor of his association with YSU football and against. Richmond was not permitted to play in the 2017 football season, according to a statement released by YSU on August 9.
As a result, he filed a federal lawsuit against YSU on Sept. 13, claiming he was denied his right to due process, which violates the 14th Amendment.
He also claimed there was a breach of contract and that the university discriminated against him due to his gender, which is a violation of Title IX.
He entered his first game as a Penguin against Central Connecticut State on Sept. 16.
According to a statement released by YSU on Oct. 2, he agreed to go through additional Title IX training and will remain on the active roster.
Judge Lipps described much of the evidence as “profane and ugly.” In sentencing the boys, he said rape was among the gravest of crimes and noted that they could have been tried as adults with far harsher punishments. He also said the case was a cautionary lesson in how teenagers conduct themselves when alcohol is present and in “how you record things on social media that are so prevalent today.”