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Police Chief's Stepson Charged With Rape, Local Papers Stolen

Someone thought it was a good idea to steal all the copies of the local Colorado paper that reported the charges.

Speaking of suppressing the news, how about this story in Colorado? The local police chief was asleep during an underage drinking party at his house, and rape charges were filed against some participants, including the chief's stepson. Turns out someone thought it was a good idea to steal all the copies of the local paper that reported the charges.Via NBC News:

Nearly all the copies of a small-town Colorado newspaper were stolen from newspaper racks on the same day the Ouray County Plaindealer published a story about charges being filed over rapes alleged to have occurred at an underage drinking party at the police chief’s house while the chief was asleep, the owner and publisher said Friday.

Mike Wiggins vowed to get to the bottom of it, posting Thursday on X, formerly Twitter: “If you hoped to silence or intimidate us, you failed miserably. We’ll find out who did this. And another press run is imminent.”

The newspaper posted the story on social media and removed its website paywall so people could read about the felony sexual assault charges filed against three men, including a relative of the police chief, for actions that allegedly occurred at a May 2023 party in Ouray where drugs and alcohol were used, according to court records. The suspects were ages 17, 18 and 19 at the time, and the person who reported the rapes was 17, records said.

By Thursday evening, someone had returned a garbage bag full of newspapers to the Plaindealer, and supporters had donated about $2,000 to the paper, something Wiggins called “extremely heartening and humbling.”

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