Oscar Antonio Rodriguez Granados, 33, of Alexandria, was convicted by a jury on March 9 of three counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor over whom he maintained a custodial or supervisory relationship. According to the Alexandria Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, the evidence presented at trial showed that the defendant offered to provide work to a 15-year-old child whom he had met just two weeks before the offense. After obtaining permission from the child’s father to transport the child to inspect the work site and return immediately home, the defendant took the child inside an empty apartment and sexually abused the child.
Specifically, the defendant was convicted of three felony counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor for the acts of: sexually abusing the child; exposing himself to the child; and proposing an indecent act by the child. The Commonwealth further proved that the defendant exercised custody and control over the child at the time these acts were committed.
After convicting the defendant of all three felonies, the jury recommended a sentence of six years and six months, and a $2,500 fine. The case was continued for a pre-sentence investigation and a formal sentencing hearing on May 19. Upon conviction, the defendant’s bond was revoked. He is currently in custody in the William G. Truesdale Alexandria Adult Detention Center.
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jessica Best Smith prosecuted the matter on the behalf of the Commonwealth with the assistance of Victim Advocate Patricia Benavidez of the Commonwealth's Attorney's Victim/Witness Assistance Program. The case was investigated by Detective Kevin Thomas of the Alexandria Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Section, Special Victims Unit.
"The unmistakable message sent by the jury is that sex crimes against children will not be tolerated in this community,” said Commonwealth's Attorney Bryan Porter. “It is our hope that in this sentence the victim will find some degree of closure and that the process of healing can begin. The Commonwealth's Attorney's Office continues to zealously prosecute crimes of sexual violence against children, and this prosecution is emblematic of the emphasis I place on such cases."