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2 teens accused of harassing rape victim

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio, March 19 (UPI) -- Police arrested two teen girls for allegedly threatening the 16-year-old victim in the Steubenville, Ohio, rape case, state Attorney General Mike DeWine said.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said the threats came Sunday soon after Judge Thomas Lipps found Steubenville High School football players Trent Mays, 17, and Ma'lik Richmond, 16, guilty of juvenile charges equivalent to rape for digitally penetrating an allegedly drunk 16-year-old girl during a series of parties in August.

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Both teens were sentenced to a minimum of one year of incarceration, with Mays receiving an extra year sentence for possessing a nude photograph of the victim, who attends a high school in nearby Weirton, W.Va.

The two Steubenville teenage girls -- ages 16 and 15 -- suspected of threatening the rape victim were taken to Jefferson County Juvenile Detention Center, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported Monday.

The 16-year-old girl, who the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported is related to Richmond, was charged with one misdemeanor count of aggravated menacing for threatening the life of the victim on Twitter, the newspaper said. The 15-year-old girl was charged with one misdemeanor count of menacing for threatening bodily harm to the victim on Facebook.

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"Let me be clear," DeWine said. "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."

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