IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - The Iowa Supreme Court let stand a ruling that allows prosecutors to use a key piece of evidence against James Bentley, charged with molesting 10-year-old Jetseta Gage. Bentley, 34, of Vinton, faces separate trials in Linn and Benton counties on charges of second-degree sexual abuse involving the Cedar Rapids girl. Bentley's older brother, Roger, is charged with kidnapping, molesting and killing the girl in March. The high-profile case led state lawmakers to pass tougher new laws for sex offenders. James Bentley, who briefly dated the girl's mother, Trena Gage, is accused of sexually abusing Jetseta multiple times between 2002 and early 2004 at locations in Linn and Benton counties. In May, District Judge Thomas Koehler ruled that prosecutors could use a videotape made last fall when Gage was questioned by an interviewer with the Child Protection Center at a Cedar Rapids hospital. Defense attorney David Fiester argued that the tape should be tossed because Gage can no longer be questioned, which would infringe on Bentley's constitutional right to confront his accuser. Fiester, calling the tape the prosecution's chief piece of evidence, asked the Supreme Court to overturn Koehler's ruling. But in a brief, one-paragraph ruling on Monday, the Supreme Court refused. "After reviewing the material filed by the parties, the court determines that discretionary review is not warranted," the ruling said. "The application is denied." Bentley's trial in Benton County was delayed last month with no new date set. The Linn County trial is set to begin Aug. 15, but likely will be pushed back to give lawyers more time to prepare. Bentley's brother, Roger Bentley, 38, of Brandon, is scheduled for trial Nov. 28 in Davenport on charges of murder and kidnapping. District Judge Patrick Grady agreed to move the trial after defense attorneys argued that excessive media coverage in the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City area hindered Roger Bentley's chances of getting a fair trial. Police say Roger Bentley, who was convicted in 1994 for sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl, was a friend of the Gage family and was working at the house the day Gage disappeared. Her March 24th disappearance set off a statewide Amber Alert, and a tip by someone who spotted a truck matching Bentley's outside an abandoned mobile home near Kalona helped lead to his arrest the following day. Prosecutors say Roger Bentley drove the girl to the mobile home, where he sexually assaulted and suffocated her, hiding her body in a cabinet.

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