Illegal Immigrant Charged in Virginia Child Abuse Case Involving Chained Boys, ICE Confirms

Authorities confirmed that the boyfriend of a Virginia mother, arrested for chaining her two sons to a post by their ankles, is an illegal immigrant. The individual, Franklin Arquimedes Viera-Guevara, is a 29-year-old Salvadoran national who unlawfully reentered the United States after being deported in 2019.

Incident Details

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stated that Viera-Guevara was arrested for unlawfully entering the United States near McAllen, Texas, on November 1, 2018. He was subsequently deported to El Salvador on February 1, 2019. Despite this, he unlawfully reentered the United States without inspection, admission, or parole by a U.S. immigration official at an unknown time and location. The incident in Virginia came to light when police responded to an apartment in Groveton, Virginia, on August 15, 2022, after receiving a report of alleged child neglect. One of the boys had used a roommate's cellphone to take a picture of his chained ankle and sent the photo to their sister, who then called 911. When officers arrived, they reported hearing chains rattling inside. Upon entering, they observed a chain wrapped around a post next to a cot with two boys, ages 7 and 9, chained at their ankles.

Charges and Immigration Detainer

The mother, Wendi Del Cid Rodriguez, 46, and Viera-Guevara were arrested on charges of child neglect, child cruelty, and abduction. The arrests prompted the filing of an immigration detainer against Guevara with the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. Rodriguez and Viera-Guevara allegedly claimed that they chained the boys for short periods to "scare them" into not leaving the home. However, a roommate contradicted this, stating that the boys were often left unsupervised and restrained when the suspects were not present. The mother and her boyfriend are facing serious repercussions for their actions in a case that has shocked the community. The involvement of ICE highlights the intersection of law enforcement and immigration issues in this troubling case.