Of two cases against a Butler man accused of having sex with an underage girl and assaulting another, only the lesser one moved forward Monday. The second was continued because of technical difficulties.

Remaining in Butler County Prison on a combined $150,000 bond, James Howard-George, 28, appeared virtually for two preliminary hearings before District Judge William Fullerton. Public defender Michael McFarland appeared in court to defend Howard-George.

Howard-George has been on parole since Jan. 30, when he was sentenced for his guilty plea regarding his involvement in the murder of Melissa Barto, 26, of Butler. Howard-George had pleaded guilty to helping his friend, Ishemer Ramsey, 25, burn and hide the body of Barto in Lawrence County in 2017.

In the first case, Howard-George was accused with having sex with a 15-year-old girl. He is charged with felony statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and corruption of minors as well as misdemeanor indecent assault.

Fullerton was forced to continue the case because the county's cyber-security software prevented him from downloading a media player that could play an evidentiary video on a USB.

This is the second time in recent weeks that the complication has arisen, but the previous case had other witnesses and was not continued.

Fullerton said he hoped to have the issue resolved within the week, and they could continue the hearing from the point it ended.

At that point, Assistant District Attorney Laura Pitchford already had called three witnesses. The first was Butler Det. Eric Klopfer, who said he interviewed a 15-year-old girl who told him she videotaped Howard-George and her friend having sex.

Klopfer said he also interviewed the 15-year-old girl who allegedly had sex with Howard-George.

McFarland asked how many actually saw the acts, as opposed to those who just heard about it, and Klopfer replied that about eight people said they saw the acts take place.

“The way they explained it is it took place in the living room in front of everyone,” Klopfer said. “Some chose to look, while others didn't.”

Klopfer said the video was recorded on a phone through the Snapchat application.

“Is it clear as far as identity?” McFarland asked.

“Yes,” Klopfer said.

Klopfer said he interviewed Howard-George, who admitted to being at the party with the girl, but he claimed he did not remember having sex with the girl because he was intoxicated and must have blacked out.

The two girls, the alleged victim and the girl who recorded the acts, were called to testify.

The girl who recorded the acts struggled to testify. Pitchford asked her multiple times to tell the court which acts she saw occur at the party. The girl remained quiet in long pauses.

“This courtroom is where it is not offensive or wrong to talk about the things you've seen,” Fullerton said. “Please answer the question.”

The girl said she didn't believe it was her place to say what happened.

“I'm not comfortable answering (the questions) right now,” she said.

After a five-minute recess, the girl returned and said she saw and recorded the sex acts. Pitchford asked her to at least say so in a general statement.

“Intercourse, but it was consensual, so I don't understand … ,” she said before breaking off her sentence.

Through cross-examination, McFarland established that the girl had hung out with Howard-George before at a park, although the specific park was not named. He also asked for additional details about the incident, but the girl said she didn't know because she was intoxicated.

The second girl, with whom Howard-George allegedly had sex, testified that she had been friends with Howard-George, and she hadn't known him that long.

“We were just good friends,” she said.

When asked for specifics about what happened, the girl said she couldn't remember because she was intoxicated on several substances. She said she only found out about the acts after her friend told her about them the next day.

Neither Pitchford nor McFarland received much detail from their questioning.

“I don't remember anything,” the girl said.

Following the second girl's testimony, Klopfer was called back to the stand to submit the video evidence, which is when Fullerton decided to the continue the case, likely to later this week. He said the video evidence would be important to his decision.

“I think with the way things have happened here today, I think we'll need to continue,” Fullerton said.

Despite the first case's status, the second case proceeded as planned. The second case included one misdemeanor charge of simple assault, stemming from an alleged fight Howard-George had with his 17-year-old girlfriend.

Pitchford called the girl to testify in court, and she, like the two girls before her, was quiet in her responses. Pitchford asked about her relationship with Howard-George.

“He was my boyfriend,” she said.

The girl said the two had dated for a little more than a year before they got into a fight in the parking lot of Dunkin' in Butler.

However, when asked to provide details about the alleged attack, she couldn't explain the encounter with her own words. Instead, Pitchford read a series of questions based on a previous statement she made to police.

In the statement, the girl said Howard-George screamed at her before grabbing her by the hair and pushing her to the ground.

McFarland used the girl's lack of verbal testimony in court and a lack of injury as his stance to have the case dismissed.

“I understand she acknowledged making a statement,” he said. “She's stating at no time was she injured in any way,” McFarland said.

Pitchford said the girl's statement still holds true, and the acts described constitute an “attempt to cause bodily harm,” which is the burden of proof in the simple assault charge.

For the second case, Howard-George will next appear for a formal arraignment in county court. The date was not immediately available.