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Ohio Teen Accused Of Live-Streaming Friend’s Rape On Periscope

By Jayce Wagner
Published on: 09:11 PST, Apr 18, 2016

An Ohio teenager is accused of live-streaming her friend’s sexual assault on the popular broadcasting app, Periscope. According to the New York Times, the Ohio teen allegedly witnessed her 17-year-old friend being raped by a 29-year-old man and rather than calling police or helping her friend, Lonina reportedly pulled out her phone and started live-streaming the violent rape online.

The alleged rapist, Raymond Gates, the 29-year-old man who allegedly assaulted Marina Lonina’s 17-year-old friend, is charged with kidnapping, rape, sexual battery, and pandering sexual matter involving a minor. Lonina, reports the New York Times, shares in charges every bit as serious as those leveled against the alleged rapist.

“I have never seen a case such as this where you would actually live-stream a sexual assault,” said Ron O’Brien a Franklin County prosecutor.

According to the prosecutor’s office, Marina Lonina is accused of standing by and filming the violent rape of her 17-year-old friend while Raymond Gates allegedly held the girl down and proceeded to sexually assault her. Reportedly, the assault took place on February 27, just after Lonina and the victim first met Raymond Gates at the mall.

The next day, Lonina and the victim allegedly met Gates at a residence in Columbus, Ohio, where Gates allegedly pinned the 17-year-old girl down and raped her while Lonina broadcast the violent sexual assault online where it was seen by witnesses who called the police.

The motive for the Ohio teen’s behavior is even more bizarre than the behavior itself. According to prosecutors, Lonina live-streamed the rape in hopes of getting positive feedback online – likes from her Periscope followers who would have seen the rape occurring in real time.

“She got caught up in the likes,” said O’Brien, discussing the sexual assault and Lonina’s alleged involvement in live-streaming the assault on Periscope.

Lonina, the Ohio teen who reportedly streamed the assault on Periscope has a different take on the events of February 27. According to Lonina’s attorney, Sam Shamansky, Lonina was just as much a victim as the girl Gates was holding down and forcing himself upon. According to Shamansky, Raymond Gates bought a bottle of vodka for the two girls.

“You don’t want to lose track of the fact that she’s a high school student and she and her friend were clearly taken advantage of,” said Sam Shamansky, the defense attorney representing Marina Lonina.

According to Lonina, the Ohio teen live-streamed the rape on Periscope in order to gather evidence and document what was happening – she wasn’t interested in likes, reports Shamansky, she was trying to help her friend. According to Shamansky, Lonina’s attempts to stop the rape she streamed on Periscope are clear, but he did not disclose details to the New York Times.

“She was swept up by the gravity of the situation, and as she immediately told police, she was filming in order to preserve not to embarrass or to shame or titillate anybody,” said Sam Shamansky, Marina Lonina’s defense attorney.

Ron O’Brien, the Ohio prosecutor handling the case, refutes Lonina’s claim that she only broadcast the rape on Periscope in order to help her friend. O’Brien admits that at one point in the video, Lonina pulled the leg of the victim, but he remains skeptical that she was doing anything but taking advantage of her friend.

“For the most part, she is just streaming it on the Periscope app and giggling and laughing,” said Ron O’Brien, the Ohio prosecutor handling the case.

According to The Verge, Marina Lonina didn’t call police at any point during the rape of her 17-year-old friend. Instead, she opened up Periscope and live-streamed the rape to her followers on the Twitter-owned Periscope app.

[Photo by RoSonic/Shutterstock]

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