Two women claim man they met online attacked them at gunpoint in Indian River County woods

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. — Two women said they were sexually attacked in a wooded area Friday by a man they met online who held them at gunpoint, according to an affidavit.

The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office charged Carlos Portugal, 21, of the 2600 block of 98th Avenue, Vero Beach, with two counts each of aggravated assault and sexual battery with threatened violence.

The women said they met Portugal through backpage.com, a classifieds web site, and agreed to meet him at an address in Indian River County at 1:30 a.m. The affidavit did not specify why the three were meeting.

Portugal met the women outside the address, but told them his home was through a wooded area, according to his affidavit. When the women followed him, Portugal took out a gun and ordered the women to perform sexual acts on him, the affidavit states.

A detective said the women picked Portugal’s photo out of a line-up of suspects. The Sheriff’s Office took Portugal into custody about 5 a.m. Friday. He was being held at the Indian River County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail Monday.