A judge has ordered that two teens accused of kidnapping and raping a girl will remain in the Jefferson County Juvenile Detention Center.

A probable cause hearing for the suspects was continued on Friday morning and rescheduled for Oct. 12.

The two 16-year-old suspects are Steubenville High School student-athletes. The teens were charged in late August in connection with alleged kidnapping and rape of another minor. One teen is facing an additional charge of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material.
 
The charges stem from a police report that was filed in Steubenville on Aug. 14. The report states that people came to the police station "in regards to a sexual assault involving their juvenile daughter." Information was taken for a report and the subjects were referred to the Juvenile Division, the police report stated.

Since the state filed the motion for a discretionary bind-over, a probable cause hearing is the next step in the case.

Judge Thomas Lipps, of Hamilton County, Ohio, is presiding. Lipps spent 37 years as a juvenile court employee, 12 of those years as a judge. He retired in 2010, but earlier this year Ohio Gov. John Kasich appointed Lipps to the Governor's Council on Juvenile Justice.

The two special prosecutors, Jennifer Brumby and Marianne Hemmeter, are with the Ohio Attorney General's Office. Both are part of the Crimes Against Children's Unit.

If Lipps finds probable cause, the prosecutors and defense attorneys would move on to a second hearing.

Both suspects were able to speak to their parents before heading back to jail. Many people showed up in court, including extended family and Steubenville High School football and wrestling coaches.

Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Fred Abdalla Jr. previously told NEWS9 that the next step after a probable cause hearing would be an amenability hearing "to determine whether the juveniles are amenable to treatment in the juvenile system, or should they be bound over as adults. That's discretionary and that's going to depend on testimony provided by the state and by the defense."

The teens have been detained at the Jefferson County Juvenile Detention Center since their Aug. 22 arrests.

Their defense attorneys had asked both suspects be released until the probable cause hearing and cited the character of the teens, arguing that it was doing them more harm than good to be locked up.

But state prosecutors cited the severity of the charges and agreed that was enough to detain the teens.

With regard to the ongoing investigation, prosecutors asked for a continuance because physical evidence has been deleted and it is taking longer for the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to retrieve.

Defense attorneys told NEWS9 they have not seen physical evidence that shows the suspects committed a crime. One defense attorney said that all the state investigators have to go on is a photo and YouTube video posted by someone who wasn't present during the alleged crime.

State prosecutors reiterated their point, saying the facts in this case have not changed, they believe the allegations are true, and they have police reports and eyewitness testimony to prove that.

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