The actions of Ohio teenager Marina Lonina, who was indicted after filming and broadcasting the rape of her 17-year-old friend through popular live-streaming app Periscope, has shocked America. In a recent statement, however, Sam Shamansky, Lonina's attorney, alleged that the 18-year-old only broadcast the sexual assault as evidence.
Lonina, together with 29-year-old Raymond Gates, who sexually assaulted the 17-year-old victim, are facing multiple charges including rape, kidnapping, sexual battery and pandering sexual matter involving a minor. Both of the accused have pleaded not guilty.
Unsurprisingly, the prosecution has flatly dismissed Shamansky's allegations. Despite this, Shamansky said the teen's actions were understandable, considering she is a really active user of the popular live-streaming app.
"She's in the habit of filming everything with this app called Periscope," Shamansky said.
The lawyer further alleged that Lonina's actions in the app, while the rape was being committed, showed that she was panicking and really trying to aid her friend.
"She does everything possible to contain the situation, even to the point of asking while it's being filmed to these Periscope followers, 'What should I do now? What should I do now?'" the lawyer added.
However, the fact remains that despite the disturbing event taking place and despite her friend being in a compromising situation, Lonina did not stop filming and broadcasting the event. According to police reports, the video that Lonina broadcast included parts where the minor clearly was in distress as Gates assaulted her.
There were even parts where the teenager was allegedly screaming "No, it hurts so much," "Stop" and "No" multiple times. Despite these words, however, Lonina still kept filming.
According to Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien, what seemed to motivate Lonina to continue filming the assault was the reaction of the Periscope community to the livestream. As the rape happened, the video started garnering "likes" from users, which, according to the lawyer, pushed his client to continue filming the assault.
"She got, I guess, taken up with all the 'likes' that her livestream was getting and, therefore, continued to do it, and did nothing to aid the victim," he said.
A judge has set Lonina's bond at $125,000, while Gates, the man who actually raped the teen, was set a bond of $300,000.
