CHICORA — Two men charged with rape and various sexual assault charges were held for court after a hearing at District Judge Lewis Stoughton's office Tuesday.

Thomas Walter Grunden, 47, of Slippery Rock, waived his hearing before Stoughton, as the Butler County District Attorney's office was unwilling to reduce his bond from $50,000.

Bob Hawk, Grunden's court-appointed attorney, waived the hearing and said he would file for a bond reduction in court.

Grunden and Gary Robert Ward, 29, of Jackson Center, Mercer County, between them are charged with raping and sexually assaulting a girl for a total of 12 years.

The Butler Eagle does not identify victims of sexual assault.

The alleged victim, now 21, testified at Ward's hearing Tuesday, describing how Ward, while serving as a baby sitter for her and her siblings when she was 10, began making her play games with him that eventually became sexual. Ward was 18 at the time.

She said Ward continued to physically molest her, demanding oral sex and, on at least one occasion, sodomizing her. When she was 13, Ward began having sexual intercourse with her. She said these attacks continued almost every night while her parents were out.

She then explained that at the age of 15, she gave birth to a child which later, through a paternity test, was proved to be Ward's.

When she turned 16, she reported the abuse to Butler Children and Youth Services, as well as a state trooper. She said she had told her stepmother about Ward touching her when she was 10, but that she was not believed.

Ward spent much of the time before the hearing began acting as spokesman for Grunden, who is charged with sexually abusing the girl from the ages of 3 to 10. Ward made sure Grunden's public defender was there and arranged time for the two to talk.

Ward began complaining to his public defender, Rebecca Lozzi, that he wanted his $50,000 bond reduced, his hearing waived and later asked if she was "even a real lawyer."

"I'm getting screwed here," Ward said.

Lozzi emphasized that she was a real attorney, that Ward would have to listen to her and that they would be proceeding with the hearing.

After the hearing, Stoughton said that Ward and Grunden would be arraigned in Butler County Court on Oct. 30.

Both men remain in the Butler County Prison.