Prosecutors dropping 2 teens’ charges in school rape case
ROCKVILLE, Md. — Prosecutors are dropping charges against two Latino teens accused of raping a 14-yearold 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 at a Friday news conference that the rape and sex offense charges were being dropped after a “painstaking investigation” of the girl’s claim that the two teens raped her in the bathroom 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 the girl was interviewed multiple times and the investigation revealed a “lack of corroboration and substantial inconsistencies.”
“The original charges cannot be sustained, and prosecution is untenable on those charges,” McCarthy said. He refused to answer any questions after reading a statement.
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.
He declined to say what charges the 17-year-old would face, because that case has been transferred to juvenile court. But the younger teen’s lawyers said the boy would face charges of distributing and possessing child pornography. They said the charges carry a possible sentence of 10 years or more.
Defense lawyer Maria Mena said the pornography charges stem from the video the 14-year-old girl sent to the 17-year-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.