STEUBENVILLE, Ohio

In an emotionally charged 11-minute-long news conference Friday  afternoon, Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla announced that his office, the Ohio Attorney General's Office and various other law enforcement agencies are now investigating a particular cell of a loosely organized computer-hacking collective known as Anonymous.

Individuals claiming to be working under the collective's name have recently emerged as critics of local law enforcement's handling of the August rape of a teenage girl.

Two teen defendants, both members of the Steubenville High School football team, have been charged and are facing a February trial in Jefferson County Juvenile Court.

The cell, identified as "KnightSec," has claimed responsibility for taking over a Steubenville football fan website on Christmas Eve and replacing it with a video featuring a person in a Guy Fawkes mask demanding a public apology to the accuser or they would reveal sensitive personal information about several people they believed should have been investigated and charged, as well as members of their families.

On Friday, Abdalla told a group of local reporters that his office has been inundated with phone calls from concerned Jefferson County residents who said they felt threatened by the hackers and people who are following them.

"Say what you want to say about me. Do character assassinations like you do and you're going to continue to do," said Abdalla. "But when you start doing a hatchet job on innocent children, putting their names out on the computers and the Internet, on Facebook, I'm coming after you. Simple as that."

Abdalla said he'd taken phone calls from parents of children under the age of 12 who had been threatened.

"Why put their names out there? Why put their addresses out there? With all the crackpots we have running around this country? With all of the sex offenders were have out there, plenty of them in Jefferson County, why put children’s names out there?” said Abdalla. "Mothers have taken their children out of school in fear of what may happen. This has gone too far. Enough is enough."

Abdalla also claimed to know the identity of the person leading the online effort.

"I'll deal with that at another time," said Abdalla. "I know where he lives. I know his name, his mother's name, his father's name, his brother's name."

Abdalla was quick to differentiate between the cell he's investigating and the larger Anonymous collective, which has gained notoriety for high-profile hacks of the computer systems of several large corporations and government agencies.

Abdalla also made it clear he has no complaint with the majority of protesters who assembled at the Jefferson County Courthouse on Dec. 29.

A similar, but more structured demonstration is planned for Jan. 5 at noon.

"I'm sure it will be peaceful," said Abdalla. If it's not peaceful, we'll deal with it at that time. The majority of people there are really and truly concerned about the victim," said Abdalla. "There are some who are not concerned. They were there to antagonize and to cuss like they were cursing last week at the Steubenville Police Department, calling them names and saying they're corrupt and what have you."

Many bloggers and participants in social media discussions about the case have criticized the local investigation, which only yielded two arrests, when some are convinced more teens and adults were complicit in the alleged assault. Many critics believe others have avoided prosecution because they are athletes.

Others have criticized Abdalla for allowing the Steubenville Police Department to lead the investigation when one of the alleged crime scenes is outside city limits. Abdalla has said he felt it was inappropriate for him to intervene since the accuser's parents made their initial report to the Steubenville Police Department.

Abdalla said he assisted in the investigation, by getting a warrant and seizing several cellphones from Steubenville High School football players during the initial investigation in August, which Abdalla said lasted between four and five days. Abdalla said those phones were turned over to the Steubenville Police Department. State investigators were able to retrieve some information from those phones and that evidence is expected to be used in the trial of the two juvenile defendants.

In his Friday news conference, Abdalla praised the investigation conducted by the Steubenville Police, who he said interviewed 59 people within four or five days after the initial report was filed by the accuser's parents.

He added that since the Steubenville Police Department's investigation concluded, no new evidence has emerged, in spite of repeated calls for tips from any witnesses. Abdalla said that included information presented by several crime bloggers.

"None of the bloggers, none of the Tweets have helped in any way in giving information and evidence that has helped with this case," said Abdalla.

Abdalla said his office fielded several calls about an Internet video clip that showed a young man describing and joking about the events alleged to have happened the night of the assault. Abdalla said that investigators have had a copy of that video since August.

"One guy called asking why is (the person in the video) not arrested," said Abdalla. "He wasn't even in the same place where the incident occurred. He made this video based on what people were telling him about (the alleged incident). This was no criminal act. I said it the other day:  You can't arrest somebody for being stupid. It was disgusting and nauseating. But you can't arrest him for that."

One of the two juvenile defendants is charged with rape and dissemination of sexually oriented material depicting a minor. The other is charged with rape.

Both are scheduled to be tried jointly in Jefferson County Juvenile Court on Feb. 13, 14 and 15. Special prosecutors and an out-of-town judge have been assigned to the case.