2 teens charged with threatening Steubenville rape victim

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — Two juvenile girls were in court Tuesday morning accused of threatening the victim in the Steubenville teen rape case.

The girls, ages 15 and 16, are being charged with a third-degree felony of intimidation of a witness, a first-degree misdemeanor of aggravated menacing, and a first-degree misdemeanor of telecommunication harassment.

The girls were arrested Monday afternoon in connection with threats made on social media against the rape victim, police said.

One post on Twitter said, "You ripped my family apart. You made my cousin cry. So when I see you it's going to be homicide."

Two football players from the town's high school were found guilty Sunday of raping a 16-year-old girl at a party last year.

Law enforcement officials said they are taking every threat seriously.

"If there's anybody out there that crosses the line and makes a death threat, they're going to have to face the consequences," Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla said.

After the teens were sentenced, the Ohio Attorney General said that a grand jury would be convened to look into whether other people should be facing charges in the case.

One of the girls cried after a judge told them they would be held in the Juvenile Detention Center in Jefferson County.

The judge said the teens were remanded to the juvenile facility because of a statute that requires the court to protect a victim from immediate or threatened physical harm.

Their next step in the juvenile court process is an adjudicatory hearing, which is scheduled for March 27.

WPXI