Authorities have confirmed the boyfriend of a Virginia mother who was arrested after her two young sons were found chained to a post by their ankles is an illegal immigrant.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed to Fox News' Bill Melugin that one of the suspects charged in the Fairfax County, Virginia, child abuse case is a Salvadoran illegal immigrant previously deported in 2019, but he reentered as a gotaway at an unknown time and location.
"Franklin Arquimedes Viera-Guevara is an unlawfully present 29-year-old Salvadoran national. U.S. Border Patrol arrested Viera Nov. 1, 2018, after he unlawfully entered the United States near McAllen, Texas," ICE said in a statement.
The agency said Viera-Guevara was processed for expedited removal and removed from the United States to El Salvador Feb. 1, 2019.
VIRGINIA COUPLE ARRESTED AFTER 2 CHILDREN FOUND CHAINED UP INSIDE HOME
However, ICE said Viera-Guevara unlawfully reentered 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 responded to an apartment in Groveton, Virginia, Aug. 15 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, according to court documents. He then sent the photo to their sister, who called 911.
Officers reported hearing chains rattling inside when they knocked on the door, according to a criminal complaint, Fox 5 DC reported. After someone opened the door, the officers observed a chain wrapped around a post next to a cot, and two boys, who are brothers, ages 7 and 9, were chained up at their ankles.
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Wendi Del Cid Rodriguez, 46, and Viera-Guevara were both arrested on two counts of child neglect, two counts of child cruelty and two counts of abduction. ERO Washington, D.C., also filed an immigration detainer against Guevara with the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center later that day.
Rodriguez and Viera-Guevara allegedly told investigators they would chain the boys at their ankles for short periods of time to "scare them" so they would not leave the home. However, a roommate told police that was false and that the boys were left unsupervised and restrained when the suspects were not home.
Fox News Digital's Landon Mion contributed to this report.
