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Steubenville teen ordered to report

STEUBENVILLE – Visiting Judge Tom Lipps ruled Friday that Trent Mays, 17, of Bloomingdale, is a Class II sex offender, requiring him to report his address to the sheriff every 180 days for 20 years.

Mays was found delinquent of a charge of rape in connection with an incident involving an underage girl in August. He also was found delinquent of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material for having a picture of the 16-year-old victim in an outgoing text message on his cell phone.

He was sentenced to a minimum of one year in a Department of Youth Services facility on each charge to be served consecutively.

A hearing for co-defendant Ma’Lik Richmond, 16, of Steubenville, was continued because of motions filed by his attorney, Walter Madison.

Mays underwent an assessment at a youth services center a couple weeks after his trial. Attorney Marianne Hemmeter of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office said the assessment showed Mays had no remorse for his actions.

But Mays’ attorney, Adam Nemann, said Mays didn’t know he was undergoing an assessment at the center when a doctor asked him to open up about the incident.

“You are talking about a child who doesn’t know how to express himself like an adult,” Nemann said.

Hemmeter said Mays manipulated the victim afterwards by saying he cared for her and then joked about her through text messages to friends.

“Here is a smart boy, a good student, quarterback of the football team. He is still blaming the victim,” Hemmeter said.

Hemmeter wanted Mays to have a lifetime sex offender reporting requirement. Nemann wanted Mays to have the least restrictive reporting requirement of once a year for 10 years.

Nemann said Lipps took the middle ground with the Tier II ruling.

The victim’s mother read a statement to Lipps asking Mays be given a lifetime sex offender reporting requirement.

“We realize that we have no choice but to accept the light sentence awarded to these boys, but we strongly feel that Trent Mays made a very conscious choice to publicly shame my daughter by posting and sending pornographic pictures of her unconscious body to the public. My child’s name and face will forever remain attached to his crime because of his actions.

”Since this crime, she has endured countless ridiculing comments from all public avenues that have caused her great pain and stress. This will never leave my daughter, therefore it should never leave him,” the mother said.

Law is a reporter with The Herald-Star in Steubenville.

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