A 28-year-old construction worker has been charged in Montgomery County, Maryland, with raping and sexually assaulting three young girls.
Court charging documents filed in the case say Irvin Ariel Portillo of Damascus raped a 15-year-old girl during a girls' sleepover and sexually assaulted two other girls over a period of several months. He was arrested last week and is now behind bars.
The investigation began when the mother of one girl contacted Montgomery County police and told them about text messages she'd found on her daughter's phone that indicated the girl may have been sexually assaulted by an older man.
As detectives began to look into the case, they found other victims and determined the same man may have sexually assaulted at least three teen girls in total, ages 14 and 15. They think there may be other victims out there.
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Police say as far back as December of last year, Portillo began sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl and at one point, according to a charging document, "claimed" her as his "girlfriend."
Portillo would meet the 14-year-old at parks in Damascus and go for walks, according to a charging document. The victim told police he would pick her up from school to hang out frequently.
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The document says Portillo sexually assaulted the girl multiple times.
"She advised incidents like this one occurred approximately 10 times," the charging document said.
During their investigation, Montgomery County Police Capt. Jeffrey Bunge said authorities also found two additional victims. Police say Portillo and the three victims all knew each other.
Police say Portillo raped one of those victims at a friend's sleepover in Clarksburg after the 15-year-old consumed marijuana and alcohol supplied by Portillo.
"The victim stated at this time Irvin Portillo carried her to Witness A's bedroom and laid her down on the bed," the charging document said.
Portillo was arrested Nov. 8 and is facing charges including second-degree rape and third-degree sexual offense.
Police are asking anyone who has information or who believes they may be a victim to contact Special Victims Investigation Division detectives at 240-773-5400.
"We had a concerned parent that brought this to our attention initially, and through the course of our investigation and interviews that our detective did, we do believe there could be additional victims out there, so we're encouraging parents to have a chat with their children," Bunge said. "And if there are any children who happen to be watching this broadcast that believe they're victims of Mr. Portillo, we are strongly encouraging anybody to come forward."
It was not immediately clear whether Portillo has an attorney yet.
