Two men illegally residing in the United States have been accused of raping an 11-year-old Maryland girl over an extended period of crimes. The two illegal immigrants, both in their late twenties, were friends with the victim's older brother and first allegedly raped the girl in July 2018. The men subsequently raped her multiple times over the next few months while continuing to send lewd communications to the minor.
ABC 7 reports the two suspects in the case are Mauricio Barrera-Navidad, 29, of Damascus, and Carlos Palacios-Amaya, 28, of Gaithersburg. Both men live in Montgomery County.
The 11-year-old girl, now 12, told a social worker in July 2019 what had occurred. According to ABC 7, Barrera-Navidad attended the victim's older brother's birthday party in July 2018. While at the party, he brought her into a bedroom where he raped her. He then continued to communicate via cell phone.
Two months later in September 2018, Palacios-Amaya began pressuring her "her not to attend school so that she could stay home while her parents were at work." He then raped her on several occasions, including filming his actions on a cell phone. Investigators say they found Palacios-Amaya's cell phone which contained explicit photographs of the alleged rapist with his victim.
Court documents show that "Barrera-Navidad was born in El Salvador, has four children and works for a demolition company." He was scheduled for deportation in 2016, but the foreign national was never removed from the country.
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Less is known about Palacios-Amaya, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that he had been deported in 2014. ICE referred to him as a "repeat offender."
NEW: 29yo Mauricio Berrera-Navidad of Damascus, Md. + 28yo Carlos Palacios-Amaya of Gaithersburg, Md. are accused of raping an 11-year-old Germantown, Md. girl.
— Kevin Lewis (@ABC7Kevin) August 13, 2019
MoCo Police say the men (both friends with the victim's older brother) committed the rapes on separate occasions. pic.twitter.com/LhdCnPKe35
The arrest comes as President Donald J. Trump continues to enforce immigration and crack down on illegal immigrants residing in the U.S.
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