COLUMBUS, Ohio – The trial of two Steubenville high school football players accused of raping a classmate will remain in the eastern Ohio community and will be open to the public.

The Jefferson County judge in the case on Thursday agreed with prosecutors who didn’t want the case moved, rejecting defense attorneys’ arguments that witnesses will be intimidated and harassed in the town where the case has become a divisive and emotional issue and attracted international attention.

Sixteen-year-olds Ma’Lik Richmond and Trent Mays are accused of raping a 16-year-old classmate at a party attended by numerous teammates last August.

The defense lawyers say some potential witnesses have been threatened.

Prosecutors had said public access to the juvenile trial would bring unwanted publicity to the accuser and might make it hard to get witnesses to testify.

The case made national news when the hacking group Anonymous publicized a video showing teens joking about the alleged rape.