Ohio grand jury indicts daughter of Steubenville school employee

By Kim Palmer CLEVELAND (Reuters) - An Ohio grand jury probing whether additional crimes were committed in the Steubenville teen rape case has indicted on theft charges the daughter of a school employee accused of obstructing the investigation, authorities said on Wednesday. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine called for a grand jury and launched a special investigation shortly after two Steubenville high school football players were found guilty in March of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl at a party in August 2012. Steubenville is about 40 miles west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The case drew national attention after the computer hacking group Anonymous publicized on the Internet an image it said was the rape victim being carried by her wrists and ankles by two young men. The indictment charging Hannah Rhinaman, 20, with two counts of receiving stolen property and one count of grand theft was not related to the rape case, but uncovered during the grand jury investigation, said Dan Tierney, spokesman for the Ohio attorney general. DeWine said in a statement the incidents referred to in the indictment occurred when Hannah Rhinaman was a Steubenville City Schools employee. The Steubenville Board of Education said Wednesday that Hannah Rhinaman was hired to help set up district computer labs and update software and had worked 118 hours on a purchase services contract from August 20, 2012, to September 12, 2012. "The board will continue to cooperate fully with the attorney general and law enforcement authorities in their ongoing investigation of the district," it said in a statement. Rhinaman is the daughter of William Rhinaman, director of technology at the Steubenville City Schools who was indicted October 7 by the special grand jury on charges of obstruction of justice, evidence tampering and perjury. She could not immediately be reached for comment. William Rhinaman was the first to be indicted by the special grand jury. Authorities have not said exactly what actions prompted the charges. DeWine has sought to determine whether any crimes were committed that might have hindered the investigation into the rape accusations that swirled around Steubenville and its well-known high school football team. (Reporting By Kim Palmer in Cleveland and Elizabeth Daley in Pittsburgh; Writing by David Bailey; Editing by Greg McCune and Gunna Dickson)