Wednesday, 25 March 2009

Arnold Mancia-Morales currently sits in a jail cell, convicted on March 12, 2009 of rape, breaking and entering, abduction and assault.

Loudoun County is safer. Our families are safer. The system worked.

Or did it?

Arnold Mancia-Morales entered the United States as an illegal immigrant in 2004. He came to the attention of law enforcement authorities several times as he made his way from Clarke County to Loudoun, victimizing many people until his final sentence—a life sentence plus 53 years.

But what took the authorities so long?

The first blip on the radar came when he was arrested on Feb. 28, 2006 in Clarke County Circuit Court. Originally arrested on a charge of Intent to Commit Murder/Rape/Robbery, lack of evidence forced the reduction of the charge to Statutory Burglary. He was then sentenced to four years, with three years and six months suspended and two months credited for time served. It appears that Mancia-Morales served only four months.

In addition to the jail term, Mancia-Morales was ordered to pay $800 in restitution, but the fines were never paid.

During the interrogation in the Clarke County case, Mancia-Morales provided details of his crimes that should have first flagged him. The interrogating officer wrote the following report:

“He (Mancia-Morales) said he wanted to tell the truth about the situation…he didn’t know the victim well, just by her first name and that he had only known her from helping her family move. He said he had “not reallyâ€