George Harasz and Douglas Wirt, a married couple living in Connecticut, were arrested in 2011 and accused of sexually assaulting two of their nine adopted boys. The two men had agreed to a plea deal in January, pleading no contest to one felony count each of risk of injury to a minor, a reduction from the much more serious sexual assault charges. But that deal was scuttled on Friday after new allegations of abuse by three more of the nine children came to light. And the couple have decided they want to go to trial to clear their names.

Since 2000, 49-year-old Harasz and 45-year-old Wirth—who run a dog breeding business called The Puppy Guy—had adopted three sets of triples. Two of the boys, ages 5 and 15, initially accused Harasz of sexually assaulting them. Harasz was charged with first-degree sexual assault and Wirth was charged with third-degree sexual assault of the 15-year-old boy.

One of the alleged victims testified in court previously that he had been abused by the two since he was 6 years old. The teen claimed Harasz and Wirth would touch and violate him, and would make him perform sexual acts on the two of them. "They took turns raping me over and over," the accuser said. "Anyone who would do this to a child is a sick, demented person."

But another of their adopted sons, Carlos Harasz, said that he had never seen any abuse over the 10 years he has lived with them. The abuse his adopted sibling described, he claimed, had occurred at the hands of other foster parents. "When you go through foster care, you have a lot of issues," he said. "When you've been with 20 other families who've done you wrong, somebody has to take the blame. It doesn't have to be the people who saved our lives."

He insisted that the couple had given him and his brothers a "normal, painless life" after years of being abused and neglected. He blamed the police and the state Department of Children and Families for failing to properly investigate: they "took the word of an angry, damaged, disturbed boy and destroyed a family." He said "DCF was played by my brothers."

"I think the only proper resolution of this matter is to try it," said prosecutor David Zagaja in court Friday. Police have been ordered to investigate the latest claims, and both parties will be back in court in June.