A Stafford man was arrested on Friday (July 7) in connection with the sexual battery of a woman in Chantilly and two other incidents that police say are related.
Fairfax County police arrested Hien The Dinh, 20, on charges of abduction and sexual battery. Police say he approached a woman in “broad daylight” on July 3 around 11:30 a.m. in the 14500 block of Northeast Place and forcefully grabbed her in an intimate area and put her in a chokehold.
The victim had been walking down the street with her mother, who went to visit a neighbor’s house before the incident happened, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said when announcing the arrest on Friday.
According to Davis, the woman screamed, alerting her mother, who was able to intervene and prevent an apparent abduction attempt.
Police believe Dinh was also involved in a May 18 incident around the same neighborhood. In that case, a man broke into a house on Iberia Circle and tried to sexually assault a woman who managed to escape and call the police.
Davis said Dinh has also been linked to a May 10 sexual battery incident at Northern Virginia Community College’s Loudoun County campus.
Davis described the suspect as a “predator.”
“I don’t know what you do with a person like this besides incarcerate him, because he’s going to offend again and again and again,” Davis said.
The FCPD circulated video surveillance footage of the area, along with a composite sketch of the suspect. They found his car in the 3900 block of Stonecroft Blvd.
“Throughout the week, detectives were able to link the vehicle to Dinh after reviewing hours of surveillance footage and observing the vehicle in the vicinity at the time of the incident,” FCPD wrote in a statement.
Police arrested Dinh as he left a business in the area and entered the car.
He is being held on no bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on charges of abduction with the intent to defile and sexual battery. Davis said he anticipates more charges, as investigations continue in all three cases.
(Updated at 10:35 a.m.) An employee of the Fairfax County Department of Family Services has been arrested for allegedly raping and sexually assaulting a woman last week.
Detectives with the Fairfax County Police Department’s Major Crimes Bureau arrested Ernest Melo, 35, of Centreville on Sunday (July 2) after the victim reported the June 28 assault to police a day earlier.
On Wednesday night, the victim met Melo at a restaurant outside of Fairfax County. Prior to this occasion, the two were not known to each other. The two parties went back to the victim’s house in the Mount Vernon Police District. At the home, Melo raped and sexually assaulted the victim.
Melo has been charged with rape and two counts of sodomy. He’s in custody without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
After the arrest, detectives determined that Melo works for the Department of Family Services as a human services assistant, the FCPD said.
DFS said it has no comment “on this specific situation” and doesn’t comment on personnel matters.
However, it backed the FCPD’s request that anyone with information related to the case contact detectives at 703-246-7800, option 3. The police department also accepts anonymous tips through Fairfax Crime Solvers by phone (1-866-411-TIPS) or online.
“The Department of Family Services, Domestic and Sexual Violence Services Division offers resources and services for victims of sexual violence, including hospital accompaniment and emotional support,” a DFS spokesperson said.
The county has a 24-hour hotline for people experiencing domestic and sexual violence at 703-360-7273. Its services include crisis support, information and referrals, counseling and safety planning.
A preliminary hearing in the case has been scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sept. 20, according to the Fairfax County General District Court’s online information system.
Fairfax County police are looking for a man who allegedly broke into a woman’s home in Chantilly and tried to sexually assault her.
Officers were called to a house on Iberia Circle at 12:02 p.m. yesterday (Thursday). The man entered the woman’s home through an unlocked door “and attempted to sexually assault her,” according to the police.
“The victim was able to escape her house and contact the police,” the Fairfax County Police Department said in a news release today. “The suspect left on foot prior to police arrival. The victim was taken to a local hospital for injuries that were non-life-threatening.”
Police described the man as a stranger to the victim with “straight black hair and a medium build.” At the time of the assault, he was “wearing a long sleeve black shirt, dark pants, and a light blue hospital-style mask,” the FCPD said.
Detectives are investigating the incident as a daytime burglary and attempted sexual assault.
The department said its detectives can be contacted as follows:
Detectives are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to call our Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 3. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by phone – 1-866-411-TIPS (866-411-8477), and by web – Click HERE. Download the ‘P3 Tips’ App “Fairfax Co Crime Solvers”. Anonymous tipsters are eligible for a cash reward. Please leave contact information if you wish for a detective to follow up with you.
(Updated at 1:55 p.m.) A Vienna man has been arrested for allegedly raping a girl at a local park.
The suspect, Celvin Aragon Flores, met the victim online through a social media app and then “engaged in a sexual encounter with her at a park in Vienna,” the Town of Vienna Police Department says.
The sexual assault was reported to the VPD on Monday (May 15), though the department’s weekly recap suggests the assault occurred around 8 a.m. on April 16.
“Detectives from the Criminal Investigations Section, dedicated to this case, conducted interviews with the victim and witnesses, coordinated a forensic rape examination, and obtained search warrants,” police said.
Arrested yesterday (Thursday), Flores has been charged with sodomy, rape, aggravated sexual battery and animate object penetration. Additional charges are expected “as the case progresses,” according to the police department.
The VPD said it has notified victim services personnel and Child Protective Services, which “will provide the necessary assistance and ongoing support for the victim.”
When asked about the age of the victim, who’s identified only as a juvenile, and the name of the park, police said they were unable to disclose that information.
“Due to this case being an active investigation, we must abide by certain protocols to ensure the integrity of the case,” VPD public information officer Juan Vazquez said.
(Updated at 1:30 p.m.) One student allegedly sexually assaulted another in a bathroom at Frost Middle School last week, Fairfax County Public Schools says.
In a letter sent to families and staff, Superintendent Michelle Reid and Frost principal Anthony Harris said that they had been made aware of the incident yesterday (Thursday) and “contacted authorities immediately.”
“The safety of our students is our number one responsibility and we will always take immediate action as soon as we are made aware of any allegations of a crime or safety issue,” Reid and Harris said in the letter, which was first reported by the Fairfax County Times.
The Fairfax County Police Department’s Major Crimes Bureau detectives are now conducting an investigation, including interviews and a review of school surveillance footage.
“Yesterday, our detectives received a report of a sexual assault that occurred Thursday, Jan. 12, at Frost Middle School,” the department told FFXnow. “Preliminarily, a student reported she was sexually assaulted by another student in a bathroom.”
The detectives are “working closely” with FCPS on the investigation, a spokesperson said.
In response to the incident, FCPS has enhanced its “adult support,” including security, in the Fairfax school. Students will also be using “a buddy system” when they go to the bathroom or otherwise leave a classroom.
Reid and Harris said the alleged suspect hasn’t been identified. An FCPS spokesperson said the school system is unable to share any more details, directing further inquiries to the FCPD.
The Major Crimes Bureau can be contacted at 703-246-7800, and the department accepts anonymous tips through Crime Solvers by phone (1-866-411-TIPS) and online.
“Victim specialists from our Victim Services Division have been assigned to ensure the victim receive appropriate resources and assistance,” the FCPD said.
The full letter to the Frost community has been reprinted below. Read More
(Updated at 10 a.m. on 1/12/2023) A man who provided acupuncture services at a medical school based in Tysons sexually assaulted a patient last summer, the Fairfax County Police Department says.
Dr. Chang Hee Kim, 64, was arrested yesterday (Tuesday) and charged with two counts of aggravated sexual battery, a felony offense, police announced.
Licensed to practice acupuncture in Virginia since 2005, Kim has served as director of clinical operations at the Virginia University of Integrative Medicine (1980 Gallows Road) since 2015, according to police.
Per the FCPD, a woman said Kim touched her inappropriately on July 14 and 18 when she visited VUIM to get acupuncture treatment.
“During the treatment, Dr. Chang Hee Kim, a licensed acupuncturist, unlawfully touched her genital area. The victim later reported the incidents,” the FCPD said.
Detectives obtained warrants for Kim on Friday (Jan. 6), and he turned himself in to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center yesterday. He was given a $2,000 secured bond and has been released from custody, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.
The bond was set by a magistrate, according to the Office of the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney, which says its prosecutors were not yet involved in the case. An arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday (Jan. 17).
VUIM says it no longer employs or is associated with Kim.
“Virginia University of Integrative Medicine (VUIM) is aware of the charges and arrest of Dr. Kim,” VUIM CEO John Yoo said by email. “VUIM has cooperated with the Fairfax County Police Department throughout their investigation…Given the sensitivity and ongoing legal nature of the matter, we have no further comment.”
According to police, Kim worked as an acupuncturist at “other medical facilities” in the D.C. region as well. Before moving to Virginia, he worked at a clinic in California.
Anyone with information about the case or other related incidents is advised to contact Major Crimes Bureau detectives at 703-246-7800, option 3. The FCPD also accepts anonymous tips through Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS or online.
(Updated at 1:15 p.m.) A Lorton man charged with alleged sexual battery of a minor may be responsible for a separate, earlier sexual assault against a woman in Mount Vernon, police say.
The Fairfax County Police Department announced today that additional charges have been filed against Louis C. Allen, 42, after they matched his DNA to evidence collected from a sexual assault at a Mount Vernon Lakes apartment on Feb. 2.
According to police, a woman reported entering her apartment building in the 8300 block of Brockham Drive at 7:05 p.m. that day and being “grabbed from behind by a man,” who sexually assaulted her.
“The victim was able to fight off the suspect. He left property behind as he ran away,” the FCPD said in a news release. “This item was collected as evidence and sent to the Department of Forensic Science (DFS) for DNA testing.”
According to police, the DFS analysis detected Allen’s DNA on the evidence that was collected.
Allen was arrested on May 24 for allegedly touching a kid inappropriately multiple times at a playground in Lake Accotink Park on May 21. He was charged with aggravated sexual battery and served warrants for assault of a family member and failing to appear in court for previous offenses, the FCPD reported at the time.
Fairfax County General District Court records show that Allen previously arrested for an attempted vehicle burglary on Oct. 25, 2020.
He was initially charged with possession of burglary tools and entering a vehicle, which are misdemeanors, as well as destruction of property over $1,000 — a felony. However, the felony was later downgraded to a second misdemeanor charge of entering a vehicle, and Allen entered a no contest guilty plea at a preliminary hearing on Jan. 26, 2021.
He was also arrested on May 13, 2021 for an April 12, 2021 assault and battery incident.
After the Lake Accotink arrest, police said Allen was initially being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. A judge set a bond of $50,000 in the case that hasn’t been paid, according to a Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court clerk.
Right now, though, Allen is in a Tennessee jail on charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and aggravated photography of a minor, the FCPD said today. He was extradited from Fairfax County to face those charges after the May 24 arrest, according to the department.
“Detectives traveled to Tennessee and obtained DNA from Allen,” police said. “DFS was able to provide a DNA confirmation based on the direct comparison of the DNA collected from Allen and the collected evidence” from the Mount Vernon assault, for which he has been charged with abduction with the intent to defile and object sexual penetration.
According to the FCPD, Allen will be extradited from Tennessee to Fairfax County for Lake Accotink Park assault. He’s scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 15.
(Updated at 4:15 p.m.) Police have arrested a 61-year-old man from Arlington County who allegedly abducted and raped a Fairfax County woman multiple times over three decades ago.
Fingerprint and DNA analyses suggest George Thomas Jr. and his now-deceased brother, Gregory Allen Thomas, were the offenders in the 1988 rape of a 22-year-old woman who got attacked as she was leaving work in Bailey’s Crossroads, the Fairfax County Police Department said this afternoon (Tuesday).
“This is another chapter for the victim in this case, and undoubtedly, it’s a lifetime of trauma and healing. In this case, justice is delayed, but justice is not denied,” Police Chief Kevin Davis said.
According to police, the woman was walking to her car after finishing work at Skyline Mall (5115 Leesburg Pike) on Aug. 24, 1988 when two men attacked her in a garage and forced her to drive her vehicle to a secluded, wooded area.
After allegedly raping her, the men forced the woman to drive to another location where they raped her again, said FCPD Maj. Ed O’Carroll, chief of the department’s cyber and forensics major crimes bureau.
“This is a profoundly horrifying series of events. The victim was able to escape in her car and fled the scene following the second assault,” O’Carroll said.
FCPD officers responded to the crime that night and collected “an abundant amount of forensic evidence,” including fingerprints lifted from the woman’s vehicle, O’Carroll said.
The woman provided a description of one of the men, leading police to develop a composite sketch that was widely circulated, but no tips materalized leading to an arrest. Submissions of the collected evidence to state and national DNA databases also came up empty, the FCPD says.
A breakthrough came in 2020 courtesy of an “astute” forensic examiner who matched one of the recovered fingerprints to a print in an unrelated Alexandria City arrest record, O’Carroll said at the press conference.
Police say advanced DNA analysis confirmed that Gregory Allen Thomas, who died in 2009 was one of the offenders in the rape. Detectives later obtained a “discarded” DNA sample from Thomas Jr., who was “alive, well and living in Arlington,” that indicated he was the second offender.
Thomas Jr. was arrested at a Metro station in Montgomery County on Monday (Nov. 21) by U.S. Marshal Service deputies, with Metro and Fairfax County police assisting. He’s currently being held in Montgomery County’s Adult Detention Center but is expected to be transferred to Fairfax County, where the case will be tried.
The FCPD didn’t immediately respond to inquiries seeking clarification on which station the arrest was made at and the nature of the Alexandria arrest.
However, Alexandria General District Court records show that a George Thomas was arrested on Sept. 12, 2020 on a misdemeanor concealed weapons charge. He was found guilty and sentenced to 30 days in jail, which were suspended. He also paid a $214 fine.
O’Carroll said that both brothers had been involved with the police in the past, and the department believes they may have been connected to other cases in Northern Virginia. He advised anyone with information to contact Major Crimes Bureau detectives at 703-246-7800, option 8.
Among those present at the press conference was the original lead detective on the case, Dick Kline, who had joined the FCPD in 1980 and retired in 2007.
“It gives you a sense of resolve when something like this happens, because you do actually live these cases with the victim for years and years,” Kline said. “There are times when you have no idea, no help from the public. It’s very difficult…Even though it’s more than 30 years later, it’s a blessing. It’s a blessing from above that finally justice prevails.”
James Cullum contributed to this report.
A 29-year-old man from Mount Vernon could face life in prison after pleading guilty to transporting a teen for sexual purposes, the Department of Justice announced yesterday.
Apipat Vutipawat pleaded guilty last Thursday (Nov. 10) in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania to charges that, from May 29, 2020 through June 2, 2020, he transported an unidentified minor from Virginia to Pennsylvania “with the purpose of engaging in any illicit sexual conduct,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
According to the Observer-Reporter, Vutipawat was arrested on May 14, 2020 in Pennsylvania’s Richhill Township after police found him in a vehicle with a 14-year-old girl who said he was her boyfriend. He had allegedly met the girl through a dating app and faced multiple local assault charges.
Vutipawat pleaded guilty to aggravated indecent assault in Washington County Court and was sentenced to over three years in prison on Jan. 14, according to court records.
Vutipawat was indicted on three federal charges in March 2021, including traveling with the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct, transportation with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and obstruction of justice.
With his guilty plea, he faces a total sentence between at least 10 years and life in prison, a fine of up to $750,000, or both, according to the DOJ.
A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for 11 a.m. on March 16, 2023.
“Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history of the defendant,” the DOJ news release said. “Pending sentencing, Vutipawat remains detained.”
The department says the case was part of its national Project Safe Childhood initiative, which started in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The Fairfax County Police Department joined the investigation with federal, state and local law enforcement in Pennsylvania.
A 30-year-old man from D.C. has been arrested for allegedly raping a woman at a hotel in Tysons West earlier this month, the Fairfax County Police Department announced today (Wednesday).
According to the department, community tips based on surveillance footage shared publicly on Monday (Oct. 17) led police to identify Patrick Craig Locke as the suspect in the assault, which occurred on Oct. 1 in the 8600 block of Westwood Center Drive.
Locke was arrested by Metro Transit Police at 4 p.m. yesterday (Tuesday) at the Metro Center station in D.C.
The FCPD says its detectives received “several tips” after reviewing surveillance footage from the hotel and releasing video captured at Metro stations that they believed the suspect had visited.
The department also reviewed body camera footage from police in Montgomery County, where Locke had been arrested in September on a theft charge, according to court records.
According to the District Court of Maryland, Locke is scheduled to appear in Montgomery County District Court for a preliminary hearing on Monday (Oct. 24). He has been charged with misdemeanor theft of $100 to $1,500 for a Sept. 8 offense in Silver Spring.
“Once identified, detectives obtained warrants for rape, burglary with the intent to commit rape, abduction with the intent to defile and brandishing,” the FCPD said in its blog post.
Locke allegedly entered a woman’s unlocked hotel room in the afternoon of Oct. 1 and sexually assaulted her, according to police. He later pointed a gun at “a man known to the victim” who learned about the assault and chased him, police said.
The FCPD says no firearm has been recovered so far.
Locke is currently in custody at D.C.’s Central Detention Facility but will be extradited to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, police said.
