3 Teens Accused In Brentwood Robbery, Rape Plead Not Guilty
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Three Long Island teens accused of robbing and beating a young couple before raping the 16-year-old female victim were arraigned Friday.
Jose Cornejo, 17; Bryan Larios, 18; and Joel Escobar, 17, are charged with rape, criminal sex act, and robbery. Cornejo faces an additional charge of first-degree sex abuse.
Attorneys for the suspects entered not guilty pleas.
3 Teens Accused In Brentwood Robbery, Rape Face Arraignment
According to police, the men approached the victims on Hilltop Drive in Brentwood last Friday evening and told them they were members of the street gang MS-13.
They claimed to have a gun and then robbed the teenage couple, police said.
The suspects severely beat the male victim, and then took the girl to a wooded area near the Brentwood Country Club, where Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said two of the defendants took turns sexually assaulting her.
Golfers later found the girl naked and injured.
Spota called it one of the most brutal and heinous crimes he's ever seen, WCBS 880's Mike Xirinachs reported.
"They were going to kill her," Spota said. "They let her know that something was going to occur in that if she didn't cooperate, they would kill her."
The three men were ordered held without bail.
"These are vicious young men," Spota said.
They could get up to 40 years in prison if convicted of all the charges against them.
In a separate incident, the suspects are charged with beating a man for his hat, Xirinachs reported.
