Rape Charges to Be Dropped in Case Cited by White House as Immigration Issue

From the New York Times, May 5, 2017, reporter Matt Stevens. for the full story go here.

Prosecutors in Maryland said on Friday that they would drop rape charges against an undocumented immigrant and another high school student, adding a new twist to a case that the White House had held up as evidence of the need to be tough on illegal immigration.

And:

But on Friday, John J. McCarthy, state’s attorney for Montgomery County, said his office had concluded that “the facts of this case do not support the charges originally filed” against the two students, Henry E. Sanchez-Milian, 18, and Jose O. Montano, 17.

 And:

 

Though he said he would drop the rape charges against Mr. Sanchez-Milian, Mr. McCarthy said his office had filed a new child pornography charge against him, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Mr. McCarthy did not elaborate. A spokesman for his office said the charge was filed on Thursday.

At a news conference on Friday, lawyers for Mr. Montano said the state had also decided to file pornography-related charges against their client in juvenile court.

“It’s egregious that the state is doing this,” said Maria Mena, one of Mr. Montano’s lawyers. “The purpose of the pornography statute was to go after adult predators, not juveniles.”

And:

Andrew Jezic, a lawyer for Mr. Sanchez-Milian, said if his client is found guilty of what he called a “throwaway” pornography charge, “that’s nearly guaranteed to be fatal to his immigration case to keep him in the country.”

The authorities have not commented on Mr. Montano’s immigration status because he is a minor.

But David Wooten, one of Mr. Montano’s lawyers, said his client’s family members are United States citizens and confirmed that his client is in deportation proceedings.

“He came here on his own in order to be reunited with his family because he didn’t have any family back home left,” Mr. Wooten said.