Charges dropped against 2 teens accused of rape

ROCKVILLE, Md. — Prosecutors are dropping charges against two Latino teens accused of raping a 14-year-old girl in a restroom at a suburban Washington high school, a case cited by the White House as an example of why the president wants to crack down on illegal immigration.

Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said the rape and sex offense charges were being dropped after a “painstaking investigation” of the girl’s report that the two teens raped her in the restroom at Rockville High School.

Defense attorneys said the sex was consensual. They pointed to text messages in which the girl agreed to a sexual encounter; an explicit video the girl sent one of the teens; and security camera footage, which they said shows the girl running to meet one of the teens and willingly entering the restroom with him.

McCarthy said Friday at a news conference that the girl was interviewed multiple times and the investigation revealed a “lack of corroboration and substantial inconsistencies.”

While dropping the rape charges, prosecutors brought child pornography charges against the two male teens. McCarthy said 18-year-old Henry Sanchez will be charged with possession of child pornography, which carries a potential sentence of up to five years. Lawyers for the 17-yearold said he would face charges of distributing and possessing child pornography.

The Associated Press does not typically identify juveniles charged with crimes and is not naming the 17-year-old now that he is charged as a juvenile.

Defense lawyer Maria Mena said the pornography charges stem from the video the 14year-old girl sent to the 17year-old, which he then shared with Sanchez. She called it “egregious” that her client was being charged, while the girl who made the video and sent it to him is not being charged. The purpose of the child pornography statute, she said, is to deter adults from engaging in predatory conduct against kids, not to criminalize sexting between two minors.

After the initial charges were filed in March, White House spokesman Sean Spicer, in response to a reporter’s question, called the allegations shocking and disturbing, saying, “Part of the reason that the president has made illegal immigration and crackdown such a big deal is because of tragedies like this.”

The county school system later became the subject of anti-immigration rallies and counterprotests.

Brian Witte / Associated Press Plastic cups spell out “Rockville Strong” at Rockville High School in Maryland. The school became part of the immigration debate after a 14-year-old said she was raped by two Latinos.