A 24-year-old McAllen man is facing child abandonment charges over accusations he left three young children alone while attempting to smuggle people into the country illegally.
Rodney Acuna Jr. was booked into the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center on Thursday on three counts of abandoning or endangering a child.
A probable cause affidavit for his arrest says McAllen police responded on May 20 to the 1900 block of Dove Avenue for a welfare concern reported by the man’s girlfriend.
She told police she was worried about Acuna leaving their three children who are aged 8 and 7 years and 10 months alone and not coming home after he went out to get food.
The woman walked from her job after he didn’t pick her up for nearly two hours before Weslaco police contacted her to say he was in custody, according to the affidavit, which doesn’t say where she was walking to.
On May 23, a McAllen detective responded to the couple’s residence and spoke to Acuna, who said he had been taken into custody by Border Patrol on May 20, according to the affidavit, which says that when his girlfriend arrived home on May 20 she learned her children had been left unattended.
According to McAllen police, Acuna admitted during an interview to leaving the children alone while he attempted to smuggle people into the country illegally, though he also says he was forced to participate in the smuggling event.
Investigators determined the children were left alone for a little more than three hours, according to the affidavit.
Acuna bailed out of county on a total of $45,000 in bonds the same day he was booked, records show.
