Five Palo Verde High School students charged in four separate incidents of arson will have to overcome the weight of their own signed confessions if their cases go to trial.

Prosecutor Michael O'Callaghan revealed that evidence against the youths during a hearing Thursday in Clark County Juvenile Court.

At the same hearing, defense attorneys appearing before Hearing Master Stephen Compan denied all the charges against their clients.

Joseph Sciscento, who represents Palo Verde junior J.D. Buonantony, said he would fight the use of the confessions as evidence.

"There were no parents present, there were no attorneys present," Sciscento said after the hearing. "They (investigators) were saying it was just going to be an interview. They should not have put a child in that position."

Buonantony, 17; Travis Skochenko, 17; Rashan Lawrence, 16; Ryan Patterson, 16; and Robert Funk, 16, were arrested Nov. 22 after being interviewed by law enforcement officers.

The arrests were the result of a four-month investigation conducted jointly by the Las Vegas field office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Clark County Fire Department.

Three of the first-degree arson charges involve firebombs lobbed at buildings on the Faith Lutheran Junior/Senior High School campus in August. A fourth charge involves a firebomb set off in Summerlin's Trails Park.

Buonantony and Lawrence are the only ones facing all four charges. The five youths are 11th graders, and all but Funk were varsity players for Palo Verde's football team.

Steve Stein, attorney for both Patterson and Skochenko, also questioned the validity of the confessions obtained from the juveniles, but he said he was not going to try his cases in the media.

O'Callaghan also told Compan that he was concerned about reports that the father of one of the suspects was harassing Palo Verde students who have spoken about the case.

"Apparently, one of the parents of the suspects has been very upset that his son was arrested," the prosecutor said. "He's gone out of his way to make life miserable for students who've been interviewed but have not been arrested."

Compan reminded the attorneys that their clients and the family and friends of their clients have been directed to have no contact with potential witnesses in the case.

Alternate Hearing Master Thomas Fitzpatrick, who presided over a hearing in the case Wednesday, ordered the five suspects to have no contact with each other.

Buonantony and Lawrence, who both admitted marijuana use to probation officials, were ordered to undergo regular drug testing as their cases proceed.

Fitzpatrick ultimately approved the release of the teens from the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center but warned them that violating any of the conditions of their release would land them back in custody.

"I'm just going to suggest to the parents to stay out of the process," Compan said after O'Callaghan spoke.

All the attorneys for the defendants complained about the presence of television cameras in the courtroom and planned to file briefs asking that the court proceedings in the case be closed to video and still cameras.

"The pre-hearing publicity can and will be prejudicial to the rights of the young men to an extent that can't be mitigated," Stein told Compan.

Sciscento agreed and said he was concerned about comments during court proceedings regarding his client that might be inaccurate but had been widely publicized.

A specific example, he said, is a statement made Wednesday by a probation official who said Buonantony's parents knew about his drug use and had obtained counseling for the youth.

The parents did not know about Buonantony's drug use, Sciscento said, and had put him in counseling to help him cope with his grief at the loss of two grandparents.

Compan declined to make a ruling on the presence of media, an issue that will be raised in front of Judge William Voy on Tuesday.

"I'm not making a finding, but quite frankly, I think the press has a right to be here," Compan said.