Teens Charged With Rockville High School Rape Planned Assault: Prosecutors

ROCKVILLE, MD — The two teens charged with rape in the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl during school hours at Rockville High School exchanged text messages plotting the sexual encounter, Montgomery County prosecutors said in court during a bond review hearing Thursday.

According to WTOP, prosecutors said they obtained text messages between the two boys planning the assault. The boys are Jose Montano, 17, of an unconfirmed address and originally from El Salvador, and Henry Sanchez-Milian, 18, of the Aspen Hill area and originally from Guatemala.

The boys allegedly decided Montano would convince the victim to have sex with him in a school bathroom. Sanchez-Milian would interrupt them and threaten to tell a teacher if Montano and the girl didn't let him join, prosecutors said.

Defense attorneys for Montano said the encounter between the girl and Montano was consensual and planned. They said the girl skipped gym class to have sex with him.

“It’s very clear that there were explicit text messages sent between the young lady and the 17-year-old defendant the night before, planning this type of encounter in the school the very morning that this happened,” Andrew Jezic, the attorney for Sanchez-Milian, said.

The alleged sexual assault began at about 9 a.m. Thursday, March 16, when the girl was walking in a school hallway and met Montano and Sanchez-Milian. According to police, Montano asked the victim to walk with him and Sanchez-Milian. Montano asked the victim to engage in sexual intercourse, and she refused.

According to the police report, Montano again asked the victim for sex, then forced her into a boys’ bathroom and then into a stall. Montano and Sanchez-Milian both raped the girl inside the bathroom stall, authorities charge.

See Related:

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• Girl Raped In Rockville High School Boys' Bathroom: Police
• 2 Bomb Threats Made To Rockville High School In Wake Of Rape Case

The defense attorneys stated that Montano and the girl discussed a previous sexual encounter in text messages and shared sexual videos and photos.

They said the girl lied to police when she suggested she didn't know Montano well and didn't tell police that she and Montano had sex before. The defense attorneys called it "impeachment by omission."

When Judge James Sarsfield asked how Sanchez-Milian got involved in the situation, the defense attorneys said they couldn't explain his participation and they didn't know whether the girl also consented to sex with Sanchez-Milian.

“All three parties were willing participants to this encounter,” Jezic said. “There were no scratches, there were no bruises, there was no screaming.”

On the contrary, Montgomery County Police said they're confident that the case against the two suspects is strong. The girl told police that the boys held her down as they raped and sodomized her in the bathroom, and she said she repeatedly told them to stop.

Jezic said the law states that a 14-year-old cannot give consent to sexual relations with someone who is four years older than them. Sanchez-Milian is three years and eight months older than the girl.

Sarsfield denied a request to set bail for Montano, so he remains held without bond at a juvenile detention center.

Prosecutors said they have the girl's text messages to Montano, as well as photos of Sanchez-Milian and Montano flashing MS-13 gang signs. Both attorneys denied that the boys were involved with the Central American street gang.

The MS-13 gang has been tied to a series of murders in Montgomery County in the past year.

On Thursday, Montgomery County Police arrested a fifth suspect for the homicide of 18-year-old Cristian Antonio Villagran-Morales that occurred in Malcom King Park and was discovered in June of 2016. Detectives believe this murder is gang-related and all five suspects are believed to be associated with the criminal gang MS-13.

Police also believe the killing of a 15-year-old Gaithersburg girl whose body was found near a Springfield industrial park in February 2017 was related to the MS-13 gang.

The Rockville rape case has gained national attention, with White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer using it as an example as to why President Trump is focusing on illegal immigration.

"I think part of the reason that the president has made illegal immigration and crackdown such a big deal is because of tragedies like this," Spicer said, according to NBC. "We act so many times when we talk about this and say why is the president dealing with this, because of this priority. Well, part of the reason is because of the tragedy that this young girl dealt with, had inflicted upon her, whatever the word is, but this is why he is passionate about this."

According to WTOP, both boys entered the country illegally in 2016 by crossing the border in Texas.

Rockville High School received two bomb threats in the wake of the assault and arrests.

According to Montgomery County Police, a bomb threat was called in right before noon and another at around 1:30 p.m. on March 22.

Schools spokeswoman Gboyinde Onijala told Montgomery Community Media the callers threatened to bomb the high school and bring guns to the school to shoot illegal immigrants.

According to NBC, Rockville High School principal Billie-Jean Benson asked teachers to take attendance throughout each class period and keep track of how long students are out of class with a hall pass.

»Photo of Rockville rape suspect Henry E. Sanchez-Milian, courtesy of Montgomery County Police