On Tuesday, September 12, 2023, former Department of Children and Families (DCF) case worker Eliezer Rijos surrendered to authorities after he was accused of inappropriately texting a minor. According to NBC Connecticut, Rijos would regularly communicate with a teen. Eventually, the DCF began to investigate Rijos, leading the former employee to turn himself in.
Trigger warning: This article concerns misconduct involving a minor, the reader's discretion is advised
As per Connecticut authorities, Eliezer Rijos has been charged with injury to a child and tampering with physical evidence. The latter charge emerged from allegations that Rijos had attempted to delete records of his conversation with the teen.
The timeline of the investigation into Eliezer Rijos
In the summer of 2022, the now-40-year-old Watertown man Eliezer Rijos allegedly began texting a teenager who had been entrusted with the DCF. As per DCF admins, Rijos is said to have used both personal and state-issued phones to message the teen.
In many cases, the conversations were inappropriate, revealing several intimate details.
According to the arrest warrant, Eliezer Rijos and the teen began to communicate intimately once he became her aide. Over time, the suspect reportedly sent the young girl illicit pictures.
The messages listed in the warrant included:
“If you were my age, I would date you (...) Don’t dress s*xy please Because then ima ask to bring you back home lol (...) Lol don’t worry I won’t bite hard."
In August,l 2023, Eliezer Rijos' colleagues began to suspect that something was amiss in the suspect's interactions with the child. The same month, he resigned from his role in the DCF.
On Tuesday, September 12, 2023, he turned himself in after a warrant was issued for his arrest. In an initial conversation with authorities, he claimed that he had not had any contact with the victim since 2022.
In the interview with officers, Rijos said that he had deleted all the chats and photos from his phone. He claimed that he had never sent illicit photos, and that deleting the media was not an attempt to hide evidence, but rather to make amends for what he supposedly deemed an immoral activity.
He added that he would never have allowed the situation to escalate to a physical relationship. Despite this, investigators were skeptical, and instead chose to put on the additional charge of tampering with physical evidence.
In an official statement, State DCF Commissioner Vannessa Dorantes discussed the allegations against Eliezer Rijos.
Dorantes said:
"I find this alleged behavior by this former employee to be egregious and reprehensible and should be addressed to the fullest extent of the law. No child or youth should be subjected to or victimized by this type of behavior."
The suspect is currently being held by Connecticut authorities on a $150,000 bond.
