Accused of tampering with evidence and obstructing justice, Michael McVey was set to go on trial Monday. He was accused of allegedly wiping hard drives, erasing emails and lying to investigators. The charges against him were dropped in exchange for his resignation, according to the Guardian.
“I don’t know what Mike plans to do. This was something that was obviously great for us, I mean, whenever you have the prosecution go in and dismiss the entire case that’s fine,” McVey’s attorney Charles Bean told the Guardian.
Two players from the beloved “Big Red” football team were accused of rape after a party in August 2012. The case shook the nation and was widely discussed via social media. Students reported taking photos and video on their cell phones of the attack and gossiped about the incident online.
The investigation started months after hacker activists pushed more coverage on what they claimed was a cover up, according to the Guardian. The two football players Ma’lik Richmond and Trenton Mays were convicted in March 2013 and were compelled to register as sex offenders.
While six other adults were indicted on charges in the case, McVey’s indictment was considered the penultimate to be resolved, while the district’s former technology director William Rhinaman has pleaded not guilty to similar charges.
Ohio attorney general Mike DeWine noted that the superintendent has been held accountable for his actions.
“Following the resignation of Michael McVey today as superintendent of Steubenville city schools and agreement not to be employed by Steubenville City Schools in any capacity, the attorney general’s office has agreed to dismiss without prejudice all pending charges regarding his alleged failures, as the chief administrator of the schools, to cooperate with [the Bureau of Criminal Investigations] in its investigations of alleged rapes involving Steubenville high school students,” the statement read.
A spokesman for DeWine’s office declined to comment on any possible agreement between the prosecution and the superintendent, according to the Guardian.
