Athens made headlines throughout the state — and the world — during Ohio University’s most recent academic year.
It wasn’t always for the best reasons.
Alleged Rape on Court Street
During Homecoming Weekend, early Saturday morning, a crowd formed around two OU students at an uptown street corner. The male student was performing oral sex on the female. By Sunday, the woman showed up at the Athens Police Department saying she had been raped.
The incident was complicated by videos and photos taken of the incident, which were then disseminated online. Web users on at least one website then falsely identified one female OU student as the alleged rape victim.
A grand jury in Athens County found there to be no evidence that the incident was rape, said Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn in a news conference announcing that no felony charges would come out of the incident.
But news of the incident had already spread throughout the nation.
Athens and OU were the subject of news reports from coast to coast in October, when the Associated Press wrote an article that appeared on several newspapers’ websites, including The Washington Post, USA Today, and the San Francisco Chronicle. The Daily Mail, in Great Britain, also weighed in.
Pat Kelly Indictment
Last school year saw Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly pitted head-to-head with the state’s top lawyer, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.
The beef dates back to 2012, when Kelly was accused of assaulting an Albany man. DeWine’s office was asked to investigate the incident, which snowballed into a larger look at Kelly’s office.
“We were asked to come in and check out an alleged assault,” DeWine said this winter.
“Once we got into the case, it was evident there was a lot more there.”
Kelly had harsh words for DeWine, who Kelly previously said has “leadership (that) is not up to the kind of honest investigation and oversight that would lead to a clear and just assessment of the facts presented.”
By January, Kelly was handed down a 25-count indictment from a special grand jury, including charges of money laundering and engaging in a pattern of corrupt behavior. DeWine wasn’t the only state official critical of Kelly. Ohio Auditor Dave Yost said the investigation proved that “no one is above the law.”
Kelly pleaded not guilty to all charges and was suspended from office in March, while news outlets throughout Ohio once again set their sights on Athens. Kelly’s trial will come later this fall, so be sure to check back with The Post for coverage of the case.
Missing Persons
Signs and posters could be found throughout campus last spring, disseminated with the hope that a 21-year-old Athens man would be found after he mysteriously went missing in mid-March.
Almost six weeks later, Sam Wiater’s body was found in the Hocking River, about three-eighths of a mile from where his car reportedly was abandoned.
Wiater wasn’t an OU student, and neither was 22-year-old Sammie Donato, of Mt. Orab, Ohio, who also was found dead in an Athens County waterway last spring. Donato’s body was discovered just less than a month after Wiater went missing.
sh335311@ohiou.edu
@samuelhhoward
