An illegal immigrant has been arrested and charged in a case of child abuse that police say “shocks the soul.”
According to reports, Francisco Rios-Covarrubias was arrested Monday in Mesa, Arizona after police discovered a three-year old child in his closet, surrounded by feces and tied in duct tape and a trash bag.
Rios-Covarrubias, the girl’s babysitter, had allegedly been offering her for sex. He is also charged with sexually abusing the child himself.
Mesa Police Chief John Meza told reporters, according to Fox10 News, that the girl was so neglected that she “could not stand on her own.”
“Officers who responded to the scene were troubled by the conditions and having to witness this and without delay we have resources for them, also,” Meza said, according to the news outlet. “When officers went in, all they saw was the top of the child’s head in the trash bag,” Meza described. “The child had duct tape over her mouth, around her arms, her hands, and legs.”
Fox10 reported that the girl had a number of wounds on her body. The girl’s mother, Mayra Yomali Solis, has also been arrested. Solis, according to reports, would leave the girl with Rios-Covarrubias for long stretches of time, seeing the child once a week.
Solis, who, according to Fox10 told police that she knew of her daughter’s wounds but did not seek help, had also shaved the child’s head to that she could claim the girl had cancer and collect donations.
The child was discovered, according to ABC15 Arizona, after a man Rios-Coverrubias met online for sex came to Rios-Coverrubias’ home and noticed a bad smell. When the man discovered the child in the closet, Rios-Coverrubias allegedly offered her to him for sex.
While the man did consent to sex with Rios-Coverrubias, he notified the police about the child in the closet.
Fox 10 spoke with neighbors about the incident.
Neighbors of Rios-Covarrubias described him as a man who liked dressing in women’s clothing. An apartment complex manager says he only lived in the community for a few months. She and many others in the complex were stunned by the public arrest Monday.
“It makes me sick. It’s a child; it’s a baby,” neighbor Sheryl Wolle said. “And you think ‘Didn’t the baby scream? Didn’t anybody hear nothing?’ Oh my God. I hope the baby’s fine.”
Rios-Coverrubias was denied bail, according to Fox10, because he is in the country illegally. Solis was granted a bond of $15,000 on child abuse charges.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.