Two suspected MS-13 gang members charged with raping a 17-year-old girl in Gaithersburg last month were ordered held without bond in court this week.

Carlos Dominguez, 17, of Silver Spring, was arrested Tuesday and is being charged as an adult. Police also arrested Jose Portillo, 20, of Gaithersburg, on Thursday in relation to the crime, which took place in an abandoned house at 599 Pelican Ave. on Feb. 18.

A third man remained on the loose as of Thursday, police said.

According to charging documents filed in district court, Dominguez and the girl, who were friends, left the girl’s house the night of Feb. 18 to meet with a group of friends. A short time later, the two were approached by Portillo, also known as Jose Luis Suarez, and the other man, who pointed a handgun at the girl, the documents state.

The men threatened to kill the girl and her three month-old baby unless she followed them to the abandoned house, the documents state. After leaving her alone in an upstairs room, Dominguez and the third man took turns entering the room and forcing her to perform oral sex. They also forced her to have sexual intercourse with them, the documents state.

When his turn came, Portillo did not rape the girl because he said he knew her baby’s father, Portillo’s documents state. Portillo told the girl instead to pretend that they had sex, but he did not help her or attempt to stop her from being raped again, the documents state.

The girl was allowed to leave at 4 a.m. Feb. 19 and, despite further threats to her and her child, she called the police, the documents state.

The girl told police that a friend of her baby’s father told her the rapes were acts of revenge by MS-13 against the father, the documents state.

Both Dominguez and Portillo were denied bond in separate hearings in county district court this week. Montgomery County Assistant State’s Attorney Debbie Feinstein cited Dominguez’ and his two co-defendants’ connections to MS-13 during his hearing before District Court Judge Eugene Wolfe on Wednesday, just a day before Portillo was caught.

“He is a member of the MS-13 street gang; he has a tattoo on his hand,” Feinstein said of Dominguez.

No attorney information was listed for Dominguez or Portillo as of Thursday, but both are eligible for representation by the Montgomery County Office of the Public Defender.

Dominguez is charged with one count each of first-degree rape, first-degree assault, first-degree sex offense and the use of a handgun in a violent crime, along with two counts each of conspiracy to commit first-degree rape, conspiracy to commit first-degree sex offense and conspiracy to commit first-degree assault, according to his charging documents. Dominguez faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Portillo is charged with two counts each of conspiracy to commit first-degree rape, conspiracy to commit a first-degree sex offense and conspiracy to commit first-degree assault, as well as one count of the use of a handgun in a violent crime, his documents state. Portillo also faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

jarias@gazette.net