ANNANDALE, VA — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer for an Annandale man charged in an attempted abduction and indecent exposure case at Wakefield Park, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said.
Moises Domingo Rico Rosales, 35, of Annandale, is charged with abduction with intent to defile and indecent exposure after a June 21 incident at the park, according to Fairfax County police and court records.
In a statement, DHS described Rico Rosales as a Nicaraguan citizen who entered the United States illegally in Arizona in 2022, was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol and was later released into the country. DHS said ICE lodged the detainer asking Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) and Fairfax County officials not to release Rico Rosales from jail and instead transfer him to ICE custody.
DHS said Rico Rosales had previously been arrested in 2024 on felony drug trafficking charges. According to the agency, ICE lodged a detainer at that time, but Fairfax County officials did not honor it and released him.
“This criminal illegal alien exposed himself to one woman in a park and then attempted to abduct another woman the same day,” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in the DHS statement. “He was previously arrested for drug trafficking in 2024, but Fairfax County sanctuary politicians refused to cooperate with ICE law enforcement and released him from jail.”
Bis said DHS was calling on Spanberger and Fairfax County officials to “commit to not releasing this criminal and instead turn him over to ICE custody.”
The DHS statement comes amid continuing debate in Virginia over immigration enforcement, local cooperation with federal authorities and the role of ICE in courthouses and communities.
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano and Sheriff Stacey Kincaid defended the county’s immigration-related policies during a tense House Judiciary subcommittee hearing in May, where Republican lawmakers criticized Fairfax County’s “smart-on-crime” and immigration trust policies and accused the county of fostering conditions that led to preventable violent crimes. (Patch)
At the hearing, Descano rejected claims that his office gives undocumented immigrants more favorable outcomes in criminal cases. “My office does not provide sanctuary or safe harbor to undocumented immigrants,” Descano said. “In fact, we routinely prosecute immigrants who commit crimes and we will continue to do so.”
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Descano argued that separating local prosecution from federal civil immigration enforcement is necessary to maintain public trust, saying victims and witnesses may not cooperate if they fear local prosecutors will report them to ICE. Kincaid told the panel that her office gives ICE access to the Adult Detention Center, notifies federal authorities of undocumented bookings and allows ICE to take custody of individuals before release, but said the sheriff’s office cannot legally hold someone past a lawful sentence without a judicial warrant signed by a judge.
The hearing also followed the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to open a federal civil rights investigation into Descano’s office over its plea bargaining guidelines, which Descano’s office dismissed as politically motivated, Patch previously reported.
Spanberger recently signed legislation requiring law enforcement officers in Virginia to display identifying badges and limiting the use of face coverings during most public interactions. The measure drew attention amid concerns about masked immigration enforcement officers. Spanberger also vetoed separate legislation that would have restricted where federal immigration agents could conduct civil arrests, including near courthouses, schools and health care facilities.
In Fairfax, protesters gathered outside the county courthouse in May to criticize federal immigration enforcement policies and call attention to deaths connected to ICE custody.
The demonstration, organized by members of Defend Democracy Indivisible NOVA, came after Spanberger signed the police identification and mask legislation and vetoed the bill restricting certain civil immigration arrests. Protesters displayed signs meant to resemble tombstones with the names of people who had died in ICE custody or during encounters involving immigration enforcement.
Patch has also reported on other recent Northern Virginia cases involving ICE and people facing local criminal charges. In December, a Reston homicide suspect also faced a federal weapons charge accusing him of being an alien illegally present in the United States while in possession of a firearm. In March, ICE officers arrested a man facing a Fairfax County drug possession charge on a federal illegal reentry complaint.
Fairfax County police said officers responded around 1:40 p.m. June 21 to Wakefield Park, at 8100 Braddock Road, after a woman reported seeing a man exposing his genitals while she was walking on a trail.
While officers were responding to that report, police received another call about an attempted abduction in the same park.
A woman was riding her bicycle when a man stepped in front of her, causing her to swerve around him and get off the bike, police said. The man then tried to pull her into the woods, but the woman pushed him and ran away, according to police.
Police said the suspect continued chasing the woman before fleeing. Officers searched the area but did not find him at the time. The woman sustained minor injuries and was treated at the scene, police said.
Detectives later released a composite sketch and asked for the public’s help identifying the suspect. Police said detectives from the Sex Crimes Squad canvassed the area, reviewed surveillance footage and identified Rico Rosales as the suspect.
Rico Rosales was taken into custody June 23 in the 4700 block of Americana Drive, police said. Police previously said there was no threat to the community after the arrest.
Online court records show Rico Rosales is facing one count of abduction with intent to defile, a Class 2 felony, and one count of indecent exposure, a Class 1 misdemeanor, in Fairfax County General District Court.
Both charges list June 21 as the offense date and June 23 as the arrest date. Court records show Rico Rosales was in custody and represented by a public defender when the cases were filed June 24.
His arraignment was continued June 24, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. Aug. 26 in Fairfax County General District Court.
Court records previously reviewed by Patch also show Rico Rosales had prior 2026 court appearances in Falls Church General District Court. In April, he was found guilty in absentia in separate drunk in public and no driver’s license cases tied to a Jan. 25 offense date.
Another Fairfax County General District Court case filed in 2025 had a final disposition in 2026. Rico Rosales was initially charged with attempted robbery using force, a Class 6 felony, after a July 4, 2025, offense date. Court records show the charge was amended to disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, and the case was dismissed April 9.
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