Prosecutors drop sexual assault charges against illegal immigrant in infamous ‘Rockville Rape’ case

A Maryland district court judge dropped rape charges on Friday against one of the illegal immigrants accused of raping a 14-year-old freshman girl at Rockville High School in March.

According to Montgomery County state attorney John McCarthy, prosecutors did not have enough evidence to charge 17-year-old Jose Montano with sexual assault of the 14-year-old. Judge James Sarsfield formally dismissed the charges during a felony dismissal trial in Rockville.

"After a painstaking investigation and review of these matters, we have concluded that the facts of this case do not support the charges originally filed in this matter," McCarthy said during a news conference Friday. "Due to the lack of corroboration and substantial inconsistencies from the facts that we have obtained from multiple sources since the filing of the original charging document, the original charges cannot be sustained and prosecution is untenable on those charges."

Montano could still face possible child pornography charges for having nude, explicit photos of the young girl on his cellphone, but prosecutors would not comment on the matter because it would be handled in juvenile court. According to Bethesda Magazine, Montano's attorneys sharply criticized that possibility, saying it was a double standard to pursue charges against Montano for possessing or distributing the images but not charging the 14-year-old who sent them.

Sarsfield ordered the immediate release of Montano, who still is still being processed by federal immigration authorities and could face deportation, according to his attorney Maria Mena.

The status of the sexual assault case against Henry Sanchez-Milian, the 18-year-old illegal immigrant also accused of raping the young girl in the same incident, will be decided next week, according to McCarthy. The state attorneys office announced that they will pursue child pornography charges against Sanchez-Milian, who could face up to five years in state prison. Prosecutors said Sanchez-Milian was in possession of nude photos of the 14-year-old minor after attorneys said the girl sent the explicit photos to Montano, who then shared them with Sanchez-Milian.

Sanchez-Milian's attorney Andrew Jezic told the Washington Post that state attorneys informed him his client's sexual assault charges will also be dropped, but that claim has not been corroborated by state officials.

The two illegal immigrant students were charged with sexual assault of the young girl after she previously accused the two of confronting her in the school hallway and then shoving her into the boys bathroom, where she said they both took turns raping her. But Mena said text messages and school security camera footage showed inconsistencies in the girl's story.

"If you look at the school footage you will be able to see her running across the hallway to meet up with our client," Mena said, according to Bethesda Magazine. "She goes downstairs; she walks to the bathroom; they’re making out. She was not pushed into this bathroom; she walked into this bathroom. And that’s why I say the state did the correct thing."

The two boys, who were attending Rockville High School in Rockville, Maryland, had just entered the U.S. illegally a few months before the sexual encounter. Dubbed the "Rockville Rape" case, the incident intensified the already heated debate over illegal immigration and sanctuary cities.

Rockville city authorities have long abided by the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in which they do not question suspected illegal immigrants about their immigration status, but back in March, the city debated officially declaring itself a sanctuary city even in the midst of the sexual assault scandal.

Sanchez-Milian's felony dismissal trial is scheduled for May 12.