Tennis star Serena Williams has released this statement after the backlash to comments she made about the Steubenville rape case.
The 31-year-old sports star referred to the case, in which a 16-year-old girl was repeatedly raped by two high school football players at a series of drink-fuelled parties last summer, in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.
The article, reported on by Deadspin, reads:
“We watch the news for a while, and the infamous Steubenville rape case flashes on the TV—two high school football players raped a 16-year-old, while other students watched and texted details of the crime.
“Serena just shakes her head. “Do you think it was fair, what they got? They did something stupid, but I don’t know. I’m not blaming the girl, but if you’re a 16-year-old and you’re drunk like that, your parents should teach you: don’t take drinks from other people.
“She’s 16, why was she that drunk where she doesn’t remember? It could have been much worse. She’s lucky.
“Obviously I don’t know, maybe she wasn’t a virgin, but she shouldn’t have put herself in that position, unless they slipped her something, then that’s different.”
The Steubenville rape case reached a decision in court in March as 17-year-old high school football players, Ma’lik Richmond and Trent Mays, from the celebrated Ohio high school football team, were convicted of raping a drunken 16-year-old girl at a series of alcohol-fuelled parties.
Both boys used their hands to penetrate the helpless girl, reports said at the time. Mays also took photos of the half-naked victim that were later posted on social media sites.
He received a minimum sentence of two years in a juvenile correctional facility.Richmond got a minimum of one year in the same facility. Both could remain jailed until they’re 21 years of age and could be branded sex offenders for the rest of their lives.
