Arlington Man Sentenced to 50 Years in Rape of Daughter

A 54-year-old Arlington man convicted of raping and abducting his adult daughter is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Rodolfo Hernandez-Suazo was sentenced in the Arlington County Circuit Court by Judge Louise M. DiMatteo, who imposed the jury’s recommend 80-year sentence. DiMatteo ordered the concurrent sentencing of 50 years for rape, 25 years for abduction and five years for incest, which means Hernandez-Suazo will serve 50 years.

The sentence also includes a $25,000 fine.

According to a news release from the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office for Arlington and Falls Church, Hernandez-Suazo lured his adult daughter to a south Arlington hotel room in January 2013 after saying he was going to do some maintenance work there.

Hernandez-Suazo forced sex on his daughter and prevented her from leaving the hotel room, the release states.

Investigators from the Arlington County Police Department’s Special Victims Unit were able to retrieve DNA evidence from the victim that linked Hernandez-Suazo to the crime.

“The victim held the understandable but misguided belief that she and the defendant could at last have a normal father-daughter relationship,” said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Lisa Tingle, who tried the case this past January. “Unfortunately he turned out to be a predator, not a parent.”

Editor's note: This article was updated to reflect the correct sentencing information as provided by the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.