Teen girls 'who made death threats to Steubenville rape victim' are held in custody 'to protect victim from immediate harm'

By Laura Collins In Steubenville, Ohio

PUBLISHED: 11:26 EST, 19 March 2013 | UPDATED: 12:43 EST, 19 March 2013

Two teenage girls who allegedly issued death threats to the Steubenville rape victim will remain in custody awaiting trial.

The 15 and 16-year-old pair wept as Judge Samuel Kerr made his decision at the town courthouse and told them they face a maximum penalty of six months detention if convicted.

State Attorney Sam Pate pressed for both girls to remain in custody pending trial to protect the victim ‘from immediate physical harm’.

Tweets: The two female defendants allegedly wrote threatening Twitter messages to the rape victim immediately after Sunday's guilty verdict

The girls were arrested yesterday and charged this morning on three counts: Intimidation of a victim, Telecommunications Harassment and Aggravated Menacing.

Within hours of Sunday’s sensational guilty verdicts in the trial of Trent Mays, 17, and Ma’lik Richmond, 16, the female defendants allegedly took to twitter.

One tweet addressed to the 16-year-old victim who was raped, photographed and humiliated by the star footballers on a night of back to back parties last summer, read: ‘You ripped my family apart, you made my cousin cry, so when I see you bitch it’s going to be a homicide.’

Another in reference to the notorious Nodianos video in which the victim is repeatedly referred to as ‘dead’ and ‘so raped’ read simply: ‘It was hilarious.’

A further text threatened ‘I’ll celebrate by beating the s*** out of [the victim].

Both girls repeatedly referred to the girl as a wh***, the prosecution claim.

They stood tearfully in front of Judge Samuel Kerr who laid out the severity of the charges they face and the sentences they carry should they be found delinquent (the juvenile equivalent of guilty).

Revenge: The girls aged 15 and 16, who claim to know the two boys found guilty in the rape case, are accused of saying they would attack the victim

Identified: The girls allegedly tweeted the victim, pictured here in one of the horrific pictures posted of the night she was raped, whose identity is supposed to be protected

He said: ‘The first count of Intimidation of a Victim is a felony of the third degree. The second count of Telecommunications Harassment is a misdemeanor of the first degree. The third count of Aggravated menacing is a misdemeanor of the first  degree.'

‘If you are found guilty of the first count you may be subject to a penalty of six months in the Department of Youth Services detention and the remaining two are misdemeanors and you could be subject to placement by the court of less than six months.’

Earlier Bob Fitzsimmons, attorney for the victim, admitted that the family were finding the ongoing  pressure resulting from this case that has so shocked America as ‘very tough.’

He described the victim as ‘a remarkably strong girl’ but said that ‘she had her moments.’

She has lost friends and endured months of speculation, rumors and hostility since that awful morning when she woke naked in the basement of an unknown teenager’s house and with no memory of what had taken place the night before.

In court: Ma'lik Richmond covers his eyes and cries. Two girls, one of which claims to be related to the defendant, allegedly threatened his victim on Twitter after Sunday's sentencing

Speaking yesterday Ohio State Attorney General Mike DeWine said: ‘Let me be clear. Threatening a teenage rape victim will not be tolerated. If anyone makes a threat verbally or via the internet we will take it seriously. We will find you and we will arrest you.’

A hearing date for the two local girls was set for 27 March.

The tweets were allegedly targeted to the victim's Twitter account.

Legally she is not supposed to be identified but many have fallen foul of that rule.

CNN, Fox News and MSNBC have come under fire for accidentally naming the underage victim by failing to remove her name from court footage.

All three networks broadcast a clip of courtroom footage in which Trent Mays apologized to the girl and named her.

The online threats are just part of the ongoing hardship being faced by the victim's family.

The girl's mother, who is also not being identified to protect her daughter, yesterday spoke to  Anderson Cooper 360.

She said the family faced a long road to help their daughter return to normal and want the case to influence the actions of others.

'My family and I are hopeful that we can put this whole ordeal behind us. We need and deserve to focus on our daughters future,' she said. 

'We hope that from this something good can arise. I feel I have an opportunity to bring an awareness to others, possibly change the mentality of a youth or help a parent to have more of an awareness to where their children are and what they are doing.'

She asked people to pray for her daughter before adding: ' I ask every person listening what if this was your daughter, your sister or your friend? We need to stress the importance of helping those in need and to stand up for what is right.'