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Restaurant owner accused of sexual assault staying in jail

A restaurant owner accused of sexually assaulting a woman in her South Side home won't be getting out of jail.

On Wednesday, a judge denied the third bond request for Adnan Pehlivan, saying the defense failed to present any new evidence except photos of Pehlivan and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto.

A third bond hearing is unusual. “Why is this on my calendar? I already heard this twice!" said Allegheny County Judge Jeffrey Manning.

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Defense attorney Lee Rothman made an impassioned, animated plea, saying Adnan Pehlivan's family, friends and employees at Istanbul Sofra are counting on him. Rothman said any other defendant with a clean criminal record who faces charges of sexual assault would not be in jail until trial.

The prosecutor said nothing had changed since the previous bond hearing, other than a preliminary hearing in which the magistrate decided there was enough evidence for Pehlivan to stand trial.

RELATED STORY: DA: Restaurant owner downloaded videos of similar attacks before woman's assault

Manning reminded everyone that he called Pehlivan a danger to the community and he decided at the two previous bond hearings to keep him behind bars.

Pehlivan is accused of following a woman and her friends home after meeting them in a bar and sexually assaulting her in her bed after she fell asleep.

Rothman showed the pictures to the judge, claiming his client was civic-minded and important in local political circles. On Wednesday, Peduto said he supports Manning's decision to deny bail to Pehlivan.

"There's going to be times where people try to use that for different reasons," he said. "The accusation of the crime is horrendous."