Teen charged as adult in Muncie Central rape
Nov 22, 2010
A 16-year-old boy will be charged as an adult in the rape of a fellow student.
Police say Steven Moore raped a 16-year-old girl in a restroom at Muncie Central High School earlier this month.
A tentative jury trial is set for March 1, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. Bond was set at $20,000. The Delaware County Prosecutor didn't respond to an Eyewitness News request for an interview regarding the decision to charge the teen as an adult.
The girl reported the rape to the school office, but police say the school never called officers. The school also waited more than four hours to make the required call to Child Protective Services.
Police say the 16-year-old suspect admitted to forcing himself on the girl. He says she tried to fight him off during the attack.
Eyewitness News contacted the victim's mother, who declined to comment on the case. Moore's attorney tells Eyewitness News the contact between the students was consensual, not rape.
"This was a consensual interaction between two people that were not in an established relationship," said Jake Dunnuck. "I think there is likely some evidence they knew each other, that there was a mutual liking and a mutual decision to do this."
He can't say the victim would then report it as rape if it wasn't.
"Is it inappropriate? Absolutely. Is it uncommon? Sadly, it's not," Dunnuck said about sex in school.
But Deputy Prosecutor Eric Hoffman says, "All the evidence so far indicates it was not consensual. It was by force, or the threat of force and, in fact, the victim tried to push him off of her."
Hoffman says Moore admitted that to police and told police he knew he caused her pain and "that he had crossed the line."
He denies his client tried to destroy evidence in the case by washing his clothes when he got home. The defense says that wasn't to hide evidence, but that Moore is just a "clean-cut" kid. The prosecutor's office disagrees.
"We have a victim who has been very consistent with what she's told law enforcement and that will help us in the trial of the case," Hoffman said.
The Muncie Community Schools superintendent was out of the office and unavailable for comment Monday, but did speak about the delay in reporting the alleged crime with Eyewitness News last week.
"I don't know if I can speak to the delay, but we are cooperating," said Dr. Eric King.
Muncie Police are also investigating why school officials never reported the alleged attack. Police described school officials as "interfering" and "delaying with the investigation." Police say officials are now cooperating, but are also under investigation for possibly violating state law for failing to report the crime.
http://www.wthr.com/story/13549467/teen-charged-as-adult-in-muncie-central-rape?clienttype=printable