Trent Mays, 17, left, and co-defendant 16-year-old Ma'lik Richmond sit in court before the start of the third day of their trial on rape charges in juvenile court on Friday, March 15, 2013 in Steubenville, Ohio. Mays and Richmond are accused of raping a 16-year-old West Virginia girl in August of 2012. Credit: AP
Police have arrested two female teenagers for allegedly making death threats against the 16-year-old rape victim at the center of the Steubenville rape case, WTOV-TV reports.
The teens arrested are aged 15 and 16-years old, and one of the offenders is reportedly a relative of one of the convicted rapists in the case.
The 16-year-old girl is charged with aggravated menacing after using Twitter to make a death threat against the victim in the case, according to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. The 15-year-old is charged with one count of menacing for making a threat on Facebook.
"Let me be clear," DeWine said on Monday in a statement. "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."
Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla told WTRF-TV that one of the teens turned herself in and the other was arrested by officers.
The girls are being held in the Jefferson County Juvenile Detention Center and will appear before a judge on Tuesday.
The charges were issued just a day after Steubenville High School football players were found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl at a party when she was extremely intoxicated in juvenile court.
