A male suspect who is in custody after children were discovered chained to a bed inside a Virginia residence is a previously deported illegal alien, Border Hawk has learned.
On August 15, authorities were alerted about potential child neglect at an apartment in Groveton, a town in Fairfax County on the outskirts of the Washington D.C. metro region.
Responding officers say they heard a “chain rattling” inside the home when they knocked and when the door was opened, they observed a metal chain “wrapped around a post next to a sleeping cot” in the living room, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Fox 5.
Two boys at the residence, ages 7 and 9, bore marks on their legs and ankles “consistent with the shape and size of the chain.”
Police interviewed three other people living at the apartment, including the boys’ mother, Wendi Del Cid Rodriguez, 47, and her boyfriend, Franklin Arquimedes Viera-Guevara, 29.
The pair told officers they would “chain the children up by the ankle for short periods of time to ‘scare them’ so they wouldn’t leave the apartment. They stated that they would not leave them alone in the house chained up.”
However, a roommate contradicted the couple’s claims, saying they regularly left the boys at home “unsupervised and restrained,” and the only time he saw them unshackled was when the couple was at the residence.
One of the boys used the roommate’s cell phone to take a picture of the chain and sent it to their sister, who called 911, according to court documents.
Rodriguez and Viera-Guevara were both arrested and each charged with two counts of abduction, two counts of child neglect, and two counts of child cruelty.
Rodriguez was held at Fairfax County Adult Detention Center before bonding out, while Viera-Guevara is still being held at the same facility on no bond.
Border Hawk has learned that Viera-Guevara is an illegal alien from El Salvador who has been deported at least once.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued the following response to our query:
U.S. Border Patrol arrested Viera Nov. 1, 2018, after he unlawfully entered the United States near McAllen, Texas. Viera was processed for expedited removal and removed from the United States to El Salvador Feb. 1, 2019.
Viera unlawfully re-entered the United States on an unknown date, at an unknown location and without being inspected, admitted, or paroled by a U.S. immigration official.
Fairfax County Police arrested Viera Aug. 16 for two counts of child abuse/neglect: reckless disregard for life, two counts of child endangerment while in one’s custody, and two counts of child abduction: by force. Later that day, ERO Washington, D.C. lodged an immigration detainer against Viera with the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
ICE has not had prior contact with Rodriguez.
An investigation is ongoing.
Border Hawk field reporter Wid Lyman contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Border Hawk and is republished by The Noticer with permission.
