A Woodbridge mother told News4 she believes her 12-year-old daughter and her 11-year-old friend were raped by three neighborhood bullies as "retaliation."

According to the 12-year-old girl's mom, her daughter and a friend -- still in their pajamas -- left her Woodbridge apartment Sunday morning to take out the trash when they encountered three teenage boys who she called bullies and troublemakers.

When the girls failed to return, she called police, but right before officers arrived, a friend's teenage daughter found the girls at a nearby residence.

"They're very persuasive," she said. "She said they were pushing them with their chests and they were pulling on them. She's already crying and I can see her shirt has been pulled and her clothes just didn't look good... and I'm like, 'Lord, please don't say this.' She tells me she was touched."

She said her daughter was questioned by police for hours.

"When she came out she was even more hysterical and she was very upset," she said. "I'm overwhelmed. The very next day, I had to seek out counseling for my daughter because she started to shut down. She took a lot of baths. She took a lot of showers. She wouldn't eat ... or talk."

The victim's mom said she believes two of the three boys were involved in a dramatic incident in the same neighborhood last fall -- Lakisha Gaither fired a gun into the air last October when a mob of teens attacked her 15-year-old daughter.

The 12-year-old girl's mom believes her daughter witnessed the incident, and the boys went after her last weekend for retaliation.

Two boys, aged 16 and 17, were arrested Monday and charged with rape and forcible sodomy. Both are being held at the Prince William County Juvenile Detention Center.

Another 17-year-old boy was arrested Tuesday and is facing charges of forcible sodomy. Police say he was released to his guardian.