Prosecutors Recover Snapchat Video Of Alleged Rape
SALEM (CBS) - So you thought those Snapchat images were gone forever once they disappeared from your screen? It turns out that's not necessarily the case.
This revelation came as Rashad Deihim and Kailyn Bonia, known as "KK", face trial accused of sexually assaulting a drunk and drugged 16-year-old girl in some woods outside a Saugus elementary school two year ago. Videos of the incident played out in front of an audience on Snapchat.
Among those watching on her phone, was teenager Syndee Enos who took the witness stand Wednesday. She knew the teens in the video, and says she saw the alleged victim being restrained. She recognized Bonia's blue hair. "She was holding her down...almost in a headlock," said Enos. "She was kind of wiggling around trying to get out of it."
Photos taken by a nurse at Children's hospital afterward show marks on the alleged victim's neck and leg.
Enos spoke on the phone with the teen who was taking the video, found out where they were, and had her parents call police who met the group in the woods.
A court officer passed a folder to jurors containing screenshots Enos took, but she said Snapchat doesn't allow users to preserve video. "As soon as you receive them and you open them, the app closes out and you can't get the video or the photo back," Enos said.
Despite that, prosecutors now reveal they were able to get some video of the incident from Snapchat. A spokesperson with the Essex County District Attorney's office explains it wasn't easy. It took a preservation order and a search warrant. Judge Kathe Tuttman has yet to decide if it can be played in the trial.
Prosecutors expected to call the alleged victim to the witness stand Thursday. Also, defense attorneys are asking Judge Tuttman to allow testimony from Tim Cyckowski, the teenager who took the video and put it out on Snapchat. He already pleaded guilty, as did his father for misleading investigators.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Mike Macklin reports
