A Kentucky man has entered a "not guilty" plea in a computer hacking case with ties to a highly-publicized sexual assault in Eastern Ohio.
Deric Lostutter appeared in federal court in Lexington Wednesday. He is accused of helping to hack a website to draw attention to a 2012 Ohio High School rape case. He is charged with conspiring to gain illegal access to an online account and making false statements.
Lostutter’s attorney, Tor Ekeland calls the case an "odd choice of prosecutorial discretion." “This is not a situation where somebody, you know, hacked a hospital or took down a nuclear power plant. This was an act of political protest about the rape of a 16-year-old girl,” said Ekeland outside the courthouse following the plea.
The indictment states that Lostutter and another man in 2013 hacked a website dedicated to sports at Steubenville High School. They posted a video showing a student joking about the rape case.
Two high school football players were convicted of the rape. Lostutter’s trial is scheduled for early November.?
