In a case that is drawing comparisons to the Steubenville, Ohio, rape case, police in a Connecticut town have charged two members of the high school football team with sexual assault involving different 13-year-old girls.
At least one of the alleged victims has been reportedly taunted online.
Though many of the details of the allegations are sealed from the public, two Torrington High School football players, Edgar Gonzales and Joan Toribio, both 18, are charged with felony second-degree sexual assault and other crimes, The Associated Press reported. The allegations stem from an investigation that began on Feb. 10.
The two men, who the AP reports lived in the same condominium, have both pleaded not guilty.
Gonzalez's lawyer, J. Patten Brown III, told NBC News that the allegations against his client involve statutory rape — illegal sex with a person under the age of consent.
Gonzalez remains in detention in New Haven, Brown said, because he is unable to post bail.
Toribio's attorney, Charles F. Brower, told NBC News he could not discuss the case at all. According to the AP, Toribio is free on bond.
According to the Register Citizen, whose reporter Jessica Glenza collected social network posts related to he case, dozens of athletes and Torrington High School students have taunted one of the victims on social media sites. She was called a “whore,” criticized for “snitching” and accused of “ruining the lives” of the players.
On Sunday, Trent Mays and Ma’Lik Richmand, both players on the Steubenville, Ohio, high school football team, were convicted of raping a 16-year-old West Virginia girl during a series of alcohol-fueled parties. She was also threatened online.
On Tuesday, prosecutors charged two girls, 15 and 16, with intimidation of a victim, telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing for posing threatening tweets about the Steubenville victim on the day the verdict was announced.
