Teen Boys Accused of Rape Plead Not Guilty to 16 Felony Counts

Two 16-year-old boys, who are accused of raping two teen girls at knifepoint in a Rancho Peñasquitos park, pleaded not guilty to 16 felony charges Monday.

Leonel Contreras and William Steven Rodriguez—who were charged in adult court with kidnapping, forcible rape and sodomy by force, among other charges—were each ordered held on $5 million bail.

Patch typically does not identify minors suspected of crimes but is doing so because these defendants are being tried as adults.

According to police, the two girls, ages 15 and 16, had been attending a family party in the 12600 block of Spindletop Road and walked to a nearby park about 8:15 p.m. on Sept. 3, police said.

The prosecutor told Judge Michael Smyth that the defendants—one a Poway Unified School District student—walked past the girls in hooded jackets, then came up from behind and ordered them across the street and into a secluded area. The defendants ordered the girls to take off their clothes and took turns sexually assaulting them for 30 to 40 minutes, until family members of one of the girls started calling her name, Deputy District Attorney Wendy Patrick alleged.

"This included every kind of rape you could imagine,'' the prosecutor told the judge.

The defendants threatened the girls before riding off on a bicycle that had been stashed in the bushes, Patrick alleged.

The victims and the defendants didn't know each other, but Rodriguez lived in the neighborhood where the crimes occurred, the prosecutor said.

Patrick said 13 of the 16 charges carry a potential penalty of 25 years to life in prison, making the defendants' possible exposure 325 years to life behind bars if convicted.

A status conference was set for Sept. 19 and a preliminary hearing for Sept. 23.

Poway Unified spokeswoman Sharon Raffer said she could not comment on which school the defendant in the district attends because he is a minor.

City News Service contributed to this report.