March 3 — BLUEFIELD — A migrant worker from Guatemala is charged with second-degree sexual assault after a female minor from the same country told police he repeatedly assaulted her in both Mercer County and North Carolina.
Mario Rodolfo, 25, of Bluefield was arrested Monday and charged with second-degree assault, according to a criminal complaint filed by Lt. Detective KL Adams with the Bluefield Police Department.
An investigation began on February 28 when Adams was contacted by Sgt. DR Barker with the Bluefield Police Department regarding a call he received regarding an alleged assault at a residence on Franklin Street. Barker told Adams that the alleged victim was a Spanish-speaking woman. She was not yet 18 years old.
“Sergeant Barker told Lieutenant Adams that numerous Spanish-speaking men lived in the residence with the alleged victim,” the indictment said.
Adams responded to the scene and contacted a Spanish-speaking employee of the department to act as a translator for him.
“Lt. Adams found the home to house more than a dozen male migrant workers,” the indictment said. The alleged victim said she was sexually assaulted in the residence by a male subject named Mario.
The youngster took Adams upstairs and pointed out Mario Rodolfo. Adams kept the translator on his cell phone while the victim argued with Rodolfo. The translator overheard the conversation and passed it on to Adams, according to the indictment.
The translator told Adams that Rodolfo said he was “drunk and he didn’t mean it, to which (the victim) replied that it had happened many times and she was fed up with it and so she called the police. Mario then told (the victim) keep his mouth shut and say nothing about it and leave the room,” the indictment said.
At that time, Adams contacted Mercer County Child Protective Services and informed them of the complaint. The alleged victim turned out to have no family in the house and had only been there a short time. Adams and Barker detained Rodolfo and transported him and the victim to the police station for questioning, the indictment said.
Rodolfo then signed a Miranda rights form and his rights were explained to him. According to the complaint, he agreed to sign the form and talk to Adams about the allegations. Rodolfo said he had come to West Virginia from North Carolina about two weeks earlier to do construction work. He stated that the alleged victim was at Bluefield’s house and had lived there for six or seven years.
“Mario said he argued with (the victim) over a photo she sent to his wife in Guatemala calling him a dummy,” Adams said in the suit. “Mario denied having sex with (the victim).”
Mario Rodolfo also denied saying anything in the conversation that Adams overheard.
Adams then interviewed the alleged victim along with CPS operative Matt Collins. She said she had lived in Chicago after arriving from Guatemala. After about six to seven months in Chicago, she was sent to North Carolina and met Rodolfo. She lived in North Carolina for about a month before coming to Bluefield, according to the indictment. She said Rodolfo sexually assaulted her twice in North Carolina. She said she was in Bluefield for about a week and the only family she had in the United States was a cousin in Atlanta. She stated that on the evening of February 28, Rodolfo entered her room and sexually assaulted her again, telling him to stop. She then said that she told her family about the attack by telephone at the time and the police were contacted.
Rodolfo told Adams while being interviewed for the second time that he slept with the alleged victim in North Carolina twice, “but told that she called him to be with her.” He also denied having sex with the alleged victim in Bluefield,” the indictment said.
Adams obtained DNA samples from Rodolfo and the alleged victim. After contacting Assistant Prosecutor David Pfeifer and explaining the matter to him, it was decided to prosecute Rodolfo in the case, according to the indictment.
Second-degree sexual assault is a felony with a possible prison term of 10 to 25 years.
— Contact Greg Jordan at [email protected]
Please contact Greg Jordan at [email protected]
