Horrific photos and videos of an alleged rape in progress bear Ohio University have been shared on social media, while no one bothered to report the crime.
The woman seen receiving oral sex in the pics and videos reportedly had no idea what happened until the next morning when she saw the images online.
Crowds at the Athens, Ohio, homecoming celebration chose to take pictures and videos and send Tweets about the sex act rather than stopping it.
Many of the graphic pics of incident have been taken down by the Instagram users who originally posted them, but Buzzfeed has published them.
The woman documented in the online materials contacted the police on Sunday morning and reported the rape to the Athens police department.
Police have confirmed that a sexual assault was reported on Sunday, but they have not said if the victim in question is the woman seen online.
One of the photos, showing the man kneeling in front of the woman as she leans against a Chase bank, makes it clear that passersby were mere feet away.
That photo was sent via Twitter to a person who runs a "revenge porn" website, indicating that the photographer was trying to get the thing published.
That Twitter user has since deleted their account, but he/she was not alone.
"Still can believe a dude was ****** *** on court street Saturday night in front of like 10 people," a different Twitter user wrote regarding the event.
Incredibly, that street is just one block away from the police station. Police are still investigating, but the community is already going on the attack.
"Some of us are really angered and disappointed that no one intervened and they just filmed it instead,"said Allie Erwin, a student at Ohio University.
Erwin, who leads an anti-rape group on campus, added:
"Their first impulse was to share it on social media and make a mockery of something that was probably the worst thing that’s ever happened to her."
"There are other people who saw it as her asking for it and think it’s a joke. Basically they’re slut-shaming her for what happened," she said according to Metro.
"The response on social media is kind of heartbreaking."
Police captain Ralph Harvey said that the authorities are taking this seriously and "looking at every aspect and everything that could possibly be a factor."
"Whether (alcohol) was a factor or not may or may not have a bearing on the investigation, so it’s not something we would focus on, especially initially."
"Any videos have to viewed with a grain of salt, even if they are the actual videos, because while it’s believed the video doesn’t lie, it’s one perspective on something."
"A lot of times you get some piece of evidence that’s the 'smoking gun' when in reality that leads you to something else that makes you question something else."
The Hollywood Gossip