A newspaper in a Colorado town announced that hundreds of copies of its latest issue were stolen after it published a report about a teenage girl who was allegedly raped at the police chief's home.
A 17-year-old girl told investigators she was repeatedly raped by three different teens at a party in May 2023, according to a report from the Ouray County Plain Dealer. The newspaper reported that the alleged rape occurred at the home of Ouray Police Chief Jeff Wood, but Wood himself has not been charged with any crime.
A Colorado Bureau of Investigation affidavit obtained by the Plain Dealer states that the suspects had been drinking and using drugs on the day of the crime. The victim told police he had been in and out of consciousness but had not taken drugs.
Gabriel Trujillo, 20, Ashton Whittington, 18, and Wood's son-in-law, Nate Defenderfer, who was 17 at the time of the alleged crime and has not been identified by law enforcement. ) was arrested this week in connection with sexual assault. Mr. Whittington is not accused of participating, but not of failing to intervene.
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A newspaper in a Colorado town announced that hundreds of copies of its latest issue were stolen after it published a report about a teenage girl who was allegedly raped at the police chief's home. (St. Petersburg)
All three suspects in this case deny the charges. They each posted bail and were released from jail, according to Fox 31.
The Plain Dealer published the story on the front page of its Thursday issue, but the paper's newsroom said many papers had disappeared. The Plain Dealer said in a Facebook post that someone stole copies of the newspaper from racks at Ouray and Ridgway.
According to the newspaper, someone placed money in each newspaper box, opened the boxes, and left with all the newspapers inside.
“All the newspaper racks in Ouray and all but one rack in Ridgway were robbed by thieves and all the newspapers were stolen. From what we know so far, it appears this person put in a quarter and took all the documents on these racks,” the Plain Dealer said in its newsletter.
“It's clear that some people in our community didn't want us to read the news this week,” the newsletter continued. “I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions as to which stories they didn't want you to read.”
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The paper said someone filled each newspaper box with a quarter, opened the boxes and left with all the newspapers inside. (St. Petersburg)
The Ouray County Sheriff's Office told FOX 31 they received a report of missing documents and an investigator has been assigned to the case.
The suspect was identified Friday, the newspaper said. However, the suspect's identity will not be revealed until the summons is served. The newspaper said the person was not related to Woods or the three alleged rapists.
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The Plain Dealer's newsletter said, “We will not stop doing our job to shine a light on important issues in our community and keep you informed. This individual stole some information and used it to make headlines. “We have no intention of blocking freedom.” One hundred newspapers. Our community won't support it and neither will we. ”
“If you intended to threaten us, you have only strengthened our resolve,” the newsletter said.
