Anonymous Forcing Maryville Rape Case Reinvestigation

"Yesterday, the Internet vigilantes of Anonymous launched a campaign to force authorities in Maryville, Missouri, to revisit the alleged rapes of 14-year-old Daisy Coleman and her 13-year-old friend Paige Parkhurst (who first came forward on Al Jazeera America last evening). "If Maryville won't defend these young girls, if the police are too cowardly or corrupt to do their jobs, if the justice system has abandoned them, then we will have to stand for them," said the hacktivist group's statement. "Mayor Jim Fall, your hands are dirty. Maryville, expect us." The case gained national prominence via a weekend story in the Kansas City Star, which reported that Daisy and Paige were sexually assaulted by two upperclassmen athletes, 17-year-old Matt Barnett and a still unnamed boy, after getting drunk with them at a party. (Daisy, whose assault was allegedly videotaped by 15-year-old Jordan Zech, was left outside her house in freezing weather afterward.) The girls were harassed at school and online, Daisy's family left town, and the charges against the boys were dropped, even though county sheriff Darren White had "no doubt" there had been a crime. But that might change now that Anonymous has threatened to bring the double-edged sword of Steubenville-style attention to Maryville...".* Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur break it down on The Young Turks.

*Read more here from Caroline Bankoff / NYMag.com: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/...

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