Viral photo of public sex act at public university sparks rape allegations

Picture depicts rape in progress, alleges female student

Several students tweeted pictures of the scene, but no one intervened

Ohio University's police chief reprimanded students for tweeting without acting

A viral photograph of a public sex act apparently taking place just blocks from Ohio University's (OU) Athens campus on Saturday, actually captured a rape scene, the female in the photograph told police this week. 

The picture quickly spread through the Twitter accounts of at least half a dozen students who walked by and was also posted on the school's entertainment blog, Athen's Tonight. It has now been removed from most of those accounts. 

The photo, which sparked the complaint, and subsequent police investigation, was reportedly taken during the public university's homecoming celebrations, Athens Police told The Post, the school's student newspaper.

While no arrests have yet been made, the investigation did result in OU Police Chief Andrew Powers censuring the many students who spread the scene on social media without intervening.

“What is more disturbing are the social implications of what it means for someone to have been standing there watching this thing happen, videotaping it with their phone instead of getting involved and trying to help the victim,” Powers said, according to the Post. 

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