A lawyer for a man accused of sexually abusing young girls argued Tuesday in Butler County court against the recent addition of another charge against his client.

Keith R. Callen, 49, of Sarver allegedly committed certain acts during his time as a gymnastics coach between 1998 and 2000. Last summer, Callen pleaded guilty in Allegheny County to aggravated indecent assault, sex assault by a sports official, unlawful contact and corruption of minors.

He faces similar charges in Butler County, but on Tuesday Callen's lawyer, David Chontos, said the addition of a charge — felony photographing or filming the sex act of a child — June 10 was unwarranted because it was nothing more than hearsay and should be removed.

County Judge William Shaffer, presiding over the case, said he would make a decision later.

Chontos made similar arguments July 22 when the new charge was added after prosecutors reviewed testimony from a previous trial in Allegheny County for Callen. During that trial, an alleged victim said Callen would take photos of her, but Chontos said the victim's testimony was only hearsay and there was no evidence, including any supposed photographs, to support the claim.

“Hearsay in trial doesn't get super-duper status that transcends its hearsay status,” Chontos said.

Callen initially was charged in 2016, about 15 years after the alleged offenses.

At the time, his Butler County case was part of the Allegheny County one, which went to trial in 2017 and he was found guilty. But the state Superior Court stepped in and nullified the trial results over constitutional rights violations.

The Superior Court split the case into two — one for Butler County and another for Allegheny County. The decision was made because only one of the relevant crimes was said to take place in Allegheny County, with the others occurring in Butler County.

During that trial, two elementary school-aged girls testified that Callen made them wear tutus without underwear and took pictures.

With that testimony, Assistant District Attorney Robert Zanella filed the additional charge with the backing of the transcript.

Chontos is asking Shaffer to either remove the charge or deny his removal request, but allow him to immediately appeal to the state's Superior Court through a legal means called interlocutory. Normally, appeals aren't made until after a defendant is sentenced for his crime. But interlocutory provides what Chontos referred to as a so-called “blessing” from Shaffer to the Superior Court, which increases the chance that the higher court would consider the appeal.

Chontos also presented a third option to Shaffer to deny the motion without interlocutory.

“I'm asking you to take door No. 3,” Zanella said in response to Chontos' argument.

Shaffer said he would make a decision later, remarking that he will possibly fill one of Chontos' requests or make a different decision in the case.