US teenager accused of live streaming rape of her 17-year-old friend on Periscope

An 18-year-old woman is accused of using social media app Periscope to livestream the rape of her 17-year-old friend. Marina Alexveena Lonina and co-defendant Raymond Gates, 29, from Ohio, were both indicted by a grand jury on several charges including rape and kidnapping on 13 April.

The case was reported to the police by a friend of Lonina's who said she saw the images when streamed by the pair, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said. Lonina and Gates were charged with rape, kidnapping, sexual battery and "pandering sexually-oriented matter involving a minor."

According to the indictment, the alleged rape involved intercourse by force and Lonina was also charged with the illegal use of a minor in a nudity-oriented material or performance This is related to the alleged use of the social media livestreaming app used on smart phones to stream events live.

According to prosecutors Lonina and the victim were with Gates at a home in Columbus, the capital of the state of Ohio, on 27 February. It is alleged that Gates raped the 17-year-old girl with Lonina videotaping the sustained assault.

It is also alleged by Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien that Lonina had taken a photo of the victim "in a state of nudity" the previous night at Lonina's home. "If Gates and Lonina are convicted for these charges, they each face a potential sentence in excess of forty years in prison", O'Brien said according to NBC.

Gates' alleged role will be outlined during his arraignment on 15 April. Court records do not list how either defendant will respond to the charges.

In February 2015, a US woman received a six-month driving ban and 150 hours of community service after she streamed a live video of herself driving whilst drunk in Florida.

And in October last year a 25-year-old Georgia man was arrested and charged after he allegedly threatened to kill and behead a former porn star live on Periscope. Brian Blankenship, who was reportedly inspired by the brutal on-air shooting of a Virginia news crew in August, said he would put the adult film star's "bloody head on a stick".