Social media platforms allow users to share whatever they have in mind to the world. And thanks to the increasingly available smartphones and reliable internet connections, users can also stream whatever is in front of them to a live audience.
But sometimes, the bad things are also streamed.
This time, a 17-year-old girl from the U.S. state of Ohio was raped by Raymond Gates, a 29-year-old man, and the incident was livestreamed to Periscope, a platform that describes itself as allowing users to "explore the world through the eyes of somebody else.”
The 10-minute-video was recorded by Marina Lonina, a 19-year-old girl, who was physically present at the time.
Because of what they did, both Marina and Raymond have to serve jail times.
It all happened one day, when the three were all drunk in Raymond's apartment.
Marina and the victim were schoolmates, and on one day, they were out shopping and met Raymond at the mall at Columbus, a city in Ohio.
That day, Raymond bought a bottle of vodka, and encouraged them to meet him the following day to have a drink with him.
The three hung out and the victim became friends with Raymond, until the next day, Marina and the victim both visited Raymond at his apartment.
According to Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien, they "drank alcohol until the victim was heavily intoxicated."
The victim was drunk and helpless, whereas Raymond and Marina were able to keep themselves sober.
Raymond then reportedly forced the victim to have sex while she pleaded with him to stop. While Raymond raped the victim, Marina filmed the assault through the Periscope app.
The victim was clearly screaming "stop" and "no" during the assault.
The police were alerted to the attack by one of the victim's friends who live in another state, who apparently saw the live stream.
According to the prosecutor on the case, Marina could be heard giggling in the livestream.
"For the most part she is just streaming it on the Periscope app and giggling and laughing," the prosecutor said.
Read: Three Men Gang-Raped A Woman, And Livestreamed Everything On Facebook
Marina has the habit of filming everything with Periscope, explained her lawyer, Sam Shamansky.
"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?'" Shamansky said.
The attorney told that her client and the victim "were preyed upon by this pervert (Raymond), that's all I can say."
At first, Marina Lonina pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, which include: rape, kidnapping, sexual battery and pandering sexual matter involving a minor.
Through her lawyer, she said that she acknowledged the sexual assault on her intoxicated friend, and said that she was trying to get the girl out of the house where the attack happened.
She even defended herself, by saying that she livestreamed the assault in order to create evidence, the girl's attorney said.
Prosecutor Ron O'Brien flatly dismissed this.
Ron O'Brien said Marina indeed was seen trying to help, but that was only briefly during the 10-minute video.
The prosecutor concluded that it was how the viewers' respond and comments, that made her to have "liked" 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," Ron O'Brien said.
She giggled, and no one with a right mind giggles when seeing a friend being raped in front of their eyes.
Marina then pleaded guilty to obstructing justice under a deal with prosecutors.
She eventually admitted that she failed to report the rape or to turn over evidence after it happened.
A judge set bond at $125,000 for Marina, which was at the time, a student at New Albany High School, just outside of Columbus.
She also faces nine months in prison.
Independent of the rape count, Marina is also charged with livestreaming her friend nude the day before the assault, which is a felony, Ron O'Brien said.
As for Raymond Gates, he also pleaded not guilty at first.
The judge set his bond at $300,000, and was sentenced to nine years in prison after eventually pleading guilty to one count of rape in the case.
Both Marina and the victim are naturalized U.S. citizens from Russia, whereas Raymond is also of Russian descent.
According to the prosecutor, he has handled many sexual assault cases in his career, but never anything like this one.
"Technology has moved us into an area that is sometimes beyond belief," he said.
"People need to know and understand that the use of a smartphone to video events can constitute serious felony crimes,” Ron O'Brien said. “They should think twice before they use their smartphones to either photograph or video anything that’s of a sexual nature.”
This case has been documented at Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On in episode 6, titled Don't Stop Filming.
The 40 minutes of the series cover a deeper understanding of the complexities of sex online, questioning sex' place on the internet, and whether Marina is worth being placed on the sex offender registry for her crime, despite never raping the victim.
