Cops: Friend Live-Streamed Teen's Rape

A man and woman have been charged in a disturbing case out of Columbus, Ohio, in which police say a teen was raped while her friend streamed the assault on live-video app Periscope. Authorities say 18-year-old Marina Lonina and the 17-year-old victim were drinking with 29-year-old Raymond Gates inside a home when he raped the teen, whose ability "to resist or consent was substantially impaired," an indictment reads, per the Columbus Dispatch. The BBC identifies Gates as Lonina's boyfriend. Police say a friend of Lonina's living out of state contacted police when she saw the images.

On Wednesday, a Franklin County grand jury indicted Gates and Lonina on charges of kidnapping, sexual battery, rape, and pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor. The rape charge indicates intercourse by force and is not related to the victim's age, a prosecutor tells the AP. "If Gates and Lonina are convicted for these charges, they each face a potential sentence in excess of 40 years in prison," he says. "It isn't a human reaction to record something like that," says a parent at New Albany High School, where Lonina was arrested on Wednesday, per 10TV. "It's vile." A lawyer for Lonina says she "categorically denies these charges." (More sexual assault stories.)