(CBS) – On April 19, the city of Steubenville, Ohio extended high school football coach Reno Saccoccia’s administrative contract for another two years, reports the Herald-Star newspaper.
In March, two of Saccoccia’s players, Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond, were found guilty of raping an intoxicated teenage girl during a night of partying last August.
Testimony in the teens’ trial raised the possibility that Saccoccia may have known about the incident. According to a text message read aloud in court by an agent of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, defendant Mays texted a friend, saying: “I got Reno. He took care of it and sh– ain’t gonna happen, even if they did take it to court.”
The superintendent of the Steubenville City Schools did not immediately return a call from CBS News’ Crimesider for comment.
Just hours after Mays and Richmond were found guilty and sentenced, Attorney General Mike DeWine announced that he planned to convene a grand jury to investigate whether other crimes were committed in the aftermath of the rape, including, he said, failure to report a felony and tampering with evidence.
A spokesperson for AG DeWine told Crimesider that the grand jury was convened on April 15 and is scheduled to begin to hear evidence on April 30. He would not comment on whether Saccoccia was being investigated.
A petition on Change.org pledging support of Saccoccia has 720 signatures. On the same site, there is a petition to fire Reno with over 134,000 signatures.
What do you think about Steubenville renewing his contract? Comment below!
