Inset: Wendi Del Cid Rodriguez (Fairfax County Police Department). Background: The apartment building where Del Cid Rodriguez constrained her sons (WRC).
A 47-year-old Virginia mother is headed to jail for habitually restraining her two sons by chaining them to furniture. She and her boyfriend did this while they were away at work, intending to “scare” the boys from leaving the apartment without supervision.
Wendi Del Cid Rodriguez on Tuesday formally pleaded guilty to one count of abduction and one count of assault and battery.
Del Cid Rodriguez forged an agreement with Fairfax County prosecutors, consenting to plead guilty to the cited charges. In return, the charges of child cruelty against her were dropped, as covered by Arlington’s ABC station WJLA reported.
Her partner at the time, Franklin Viera Guevara, faced similar charges as the children’s mother. However, he was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in February 2024 for unlawful residency. Earlier this year, it was confirmed by officials that he was no longer in Fairfax County custody after being deported, according to NBC affiliate WRC in Washington, D.C. reported.
Documentation from the court, as obtained by Washington, D.C., CBS station WUSA, indicates that Fairfax Police Department received a report of child neglect at approximately 5:50 p.m. on Aug. 15, 2023. This incident occurred at an apartment on the 6700 block of Tower Drive, located roughly 10 miles south of Washington, D.C.
When officers arrived at the scene, they reportedly heard chains clinking. Inside, they discovered two unsupervised children, aged 7 and 9, chained to a post in the living room.
“The two patrol officers who were knocking on that door, when they were communicating or attempting to communicate with the occupants, they literally heard chains rattling in the background,” Chief Kevin Davis told WJLA.
One of the children had reportedly borrowed a cellphone belonging to a roommate that lived in the apartment and sent a photograph of the handcuffs and chains to his older sister, who then contacted authorities.
In speaking with Del Cid Rodriguez and Guevara, both reportedly confirmed to police that they would regularly chain the boys up in an effort to “‘scare them’ so they wouldn’t leave the apartment.” Authorities said both of the victims had marks on their wrists and ankles “consistent with being bound.”
The couple’s roommate, who was not identified by authorities, also confirmed that the victims were bound on a regular basis.
He told police he “would wake up in the morning and observe [the victims] chained to the leg of the table next to where they slept,” the affidavit in support of a search warrant stated.
“[The roommate] stated that [Del Cid Rodriguez and Guevara] were not in the apartment when the children were chained in the morning hours,” the document continued. “[The victims] remained chained until either [Del Cid Rodriguez or Guevara] would arrive home between 3pm and 6 pm. [The roommate] would only observe [the victims] unchained when either [Del Cid Rodriguez or Guevara] were in the apartment.”
While chained, the boys were reportedly only able to take about six or seven steps. Following the incident, both children were placed in the custody of their father.
Following Del Cid Rodriguez’s guilty plea, the presiding judge revoked her bond and remanded her to jail to await her sentencing hearing in November, citing concerns that she had been having supervised visits with the victims while on pretrial release, per WRC.
