A 29-year-old Butler man facing charges for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl in 2020 wants a charge of possessing child pornography separated from his other charges.

An attorney representing Jeremy Jaymes Ambrosi-Clair, 29, asked Butler County Common Pleas Judge Kelley Streib on Tuesday to sever the felony child pornography charge from the 12 other felony and misdemeanor charges he is facing.

Streib heard arguments from defense attorney Michael Rolland McFarland and assistant District Attorney Mark Lope, who objected to the motion to sever. Streib said she will issue a ruling.

Police discovered the pornography during the investigation into the sexual assault charges, so possession of the photos should be treated as a separate incident, McFarland said.

“These are basically separate incidents,” McFarland said.

He said the photographs were voluntarily taken by the girl, and police found them in a deleted file on his cellphone.

Court rules, he argued, prohibit combining charges relating to separate alleged crimes into one case.

If evidence of crimes would be admissible in separate trials, that evidence can’t be presented in a single trial on all of the charges, McFarland said.

He said evidence about an alleged rape wouldn’t be admissible in a pornography trial, and vice versa.

In addition, trying Ambrosi-Clair on all of the charges might prejudice a jury into believing that he has the propensity to commit both crimes.

“There would be extreme prejudice if they are tried together,” McFarland said.

Lope said the photos were part of Ambrosi-Clair’s bullying, grooming and pressuring of the victim.

He said keeping the charges consolidated would not be unduly prejudicial, and a jury would be able to sort through the evidence.

The photos also corroborate statements the victim made throughout the investigation, Lope said.

Ambrosi-Clair was arrested by Butler City police in September 2021 after ChildLine received a report alleging a sexual assault in 2020 and continued inappropriate behavior by the defendant since then.

Police said they conducted a forensic interview with the girl, who claimed Ambrosi-Clair began sexual advances toward her around May 2020.

The girl told officers the defendant would send her lewd messages and pictures of himself.

She told officers that one day he entered her bedroom, pinned her down and raped her.

The girl allegedly told officers that Ambrosi-Clair continued to interact with her inappropriately beyond the incident, such as sending her lewd text messages.

Ambrosi-Clair has been held in the county prison since he was arrested. His bail has been reduced from $500,000 to $100,000.