Sexual assault generally means "unwanted penetration" (legally), which includes whatever happened here (unclear exactly from the articles I read).
The participants posted their thoughts during the sex assault in real time to Facebook. It was these threads that Ms. Goddard saved, and which Mr. Lostutter then published (eventually leading to his arrest for 'hacking'). One thread stated that the girl must be dead because "You don't sleep through a wang in the butthole." This suggests that among the various events was someone engaged in anal insertion of their "wang" into the victim. They also bragged about what they themselves termed a "rape" in a separate incident the previous April.
Source: http://m.xojane.com/issues/steubenville-rape-verdict-alexand...
In the actual plea bargain the two that were sentenced admitted to "digital insertion", which is generally understood to be finger penetration. This seems to understate the extent of the rape however, based on the statements they made during the rape to their Facebook accounts.
I'm not sure it's worth your time to contend this. The debate surrounding rape is very if-you-arent-with-us-youre-against-us, so too often it seems it's already a lost battle.
- The concept of "rape culture"
- Questions like, "what should be done about the devastating affects on the life of someone accused (but acquitted) of rape?"
- Taking into consideration the impact on the accused, questions like "should women who make blatantly false or frivolous claims of rape be held liable?"
I don't claim to know the answers to any of these bullet points, but the fact of the matter is they are hotly contested even today- thus, debated.