Trigger Warning: Rape

Jury Convicts Man Who Misrepresented His Age of Trafficking, Raping Teen Girl in 2022

NORFOLK, Va. — A jury convicted Roberto Tomas Rodriguez Carlin, 27, of raping and trafficking a teenage girl to whom he misrepresented his age in 2022.

Mr. Rodriguez Carlin, who was 25 at the time, caused the victim to believe that he was 17 years old while speaking with her through Snapchat and met with her on Nov. 5, 2022. Mr. Rodriguez Carlin picked up the victim from near her home in Chesapeake, drove her to Norfolk, sexually assaulted her in his car multiple times at different locations in Norfolk, and returned her to her home after about 12 hours. Mr. Rodriguez Carlin had instructed the victim to stay in his car while at the different locations, including his residence, and he made multiple phone calls to other people suggesting they also come have sex with the teenager.

The victim told a family member about the sexual assaults about five days later, her parent reported Mr. Rodriguez Carlin to police, and the victim underwent forensic examinations. Investigators collected and tested the clothes that the victim had been wearing while she was with Mr. Rodriguez Carlin, and the presence of his DNA was confirmed from sperm residue found on those garments.

After hearing the evidence on March 12 and 13 and deliberating for about three hours, the jury found Mr. Rodriguez Carlin guilty of rape, forcible sodomy, human trafficking, and two counts of misdemeanor consensual sex with a minor. The jury found Mr. Rodriguez Carlin not guilty of abduction with intent to defile and additional counts of rape and forcible sodomy. Judge Robert B. Rigney, who presided over Mr. Rodriguez Carlin’s jury trial, set his sentencing hearing on July 25.

“Mr. Rodriguez Carlin lied to, enticed, and abused a teenaged girl, all for his own gratification, and then had the audacity to offer up his victim for abuse by others,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “I am grateful to the survivor of Mr. Rodriguez Carlin’s crimes for her strength and perseverance in coming forward, cooperating with law enforcement, testifying against her abuser, and helping us secure justice. We have a moral obligation to look after our children and a moral obligation to hold accountable the people who would hurt our children for their own ends.”

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Keith M. Proctor is prosecuting Mr. Rodriguez Carlin’s case, and Norfolk Police Sergeant Jason E. Meyers led the investigation.

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