Defense attorneys for one of the two male high school students accused of violently raping a 14-year-old girl are claiming the victim agreed to have sex with one of the suspects over text message and sent him explicit photos.
Both suspects — 17-year-old Jose Montano and 18-year-old Henry Sanchez — were in the country illegally after being detained and then released by federal officials. (RELATED: ‘Virtually Uncovered’ — NYT Admits CNN And MSNBC Are Ignoring Rockville Rape)
Montano and Sanchez were both enrolled as freshmen at Rockville High School, in Maryland.
According to police, they forced the girl into a bathroom stall at school and made her perform oral sex on them while they took turns raping and sodomizing her as she begged them to stop. Police found blood and DNA at the scene.
Montano’s attorney, David Wooten, claimed the alleged rape was consensual in court filings Monday.
“This was a consensual act. It was preplanned,” Wooten said, according to Fox News. Wooten also claims that the girl texted “explicitly compromising images of herself” to Montano.
Wooten claims the text messages show that Montano “appears to be actually innocent, and should be released forthwith.”
Andrew Jezic, Sanchez’s attorney, also claimed that “All parties were willing participants,” according to The Washington Post.
Capt. James Humphries, the commander of the Montgomery Police Department’s special victims unit disputed that claim.
“The events were horrible. They were not consensual,” he said to the Post.
The rape drew attention from White House press secretary Sean Spicer, who last week pointed to the case as reason for President Trump’s immigration policies.
“Part of the reason the president has cracked down on illegal immigration, and made it such a big deal is because of tragedies like this,” Spicer said. “Immigration pays its toll on our people if it’s not done legally.”