Trial Begins In Alleged Snapchat Sex Assault
SALEM (CBS) - They were teenagers when they were accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in their hometown of Saugus in front of an audience of followers on Snapchat.
Now Rashad Deihim is 21, and his co-defendant Kailyn Bonia is 20. During the first day of their trial Tuesday, Michelle Enos testified that her daughter Sydnee saw it on her phone while they were sitting in their living room.
She said the video showed the alleged victim holding her hand up, telling the teen taking the video, "stop". She said she recognized Bonia's signature blue hair as Bonia allegedly held the girl down by the neck and later pushed her onto Deihim.
"We were watching TV. The video started coming in, and Sydnee jumped up at that point and showed me the videos, and immediately we called the cops," Enos testified.
The teenager who took the video, Tim Cyckowski, already pleaded guilty. His father also pleaded guilty to misleading police.
Enos said they called police and met them at the scene of the assault after Cyckowski told her daughter where they were, in some woods near a Saugus Elementary School baseball field.
Defense attorneys for Deihim and Bonia say it was not rape, but rather consensual sex. The prosecutors say the alleged victim was so drunk she could barely speak, making it impossible for her to give consent.
