COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A judge has ordered that a man convicted as a teen of raping a 16-year-old girl should be taken off Ohio's sex offender registry for juveniles.
Friday's ruling by Judge Thomas Lipps came in the case of former Steubenville High School football player Ma'Lik Richmond, convicted in 2013 of raping a West Virginia girl during an alcohol-fueled party following a football scrimmage.
Richmond initially was required to register his address as a sex offender every six months for 20 years.
Lipps in 2014 decreased Richmond's reporting requirement to once a year for 10 years. Richmond's attorneys argued that Richmond served his punishment, completed all sex offender programming, and is now a successful college student.
Prosecutors, who opposed removing Richmond from the registry, declined comment.
