Salvadoran National Arrested for Sexual Assault of Albemarle Teen, Second Man Indicted for Role in Exploiting Victim

CHARLOTTESVILE, Va. – Gustavo Quintero, who was indicted by a federal grand jury last month for the repeated sexual exploitation of a 16-year-old Albemarle County girl months after he, and another man, got her so intoxicated she couldn’t walk, made his initial appearance in federal court today.

The indictment charges Quintero, 25, with two counts of coercion and enticement of a minor, one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, and one count of possession of child pornography.

The second defendant, Bryan Sixto Arias-Chicas, 23, a citizen of El Salvador who previously had his green card revoked, was arrested on a federal criminal complaint in October.

According to the indictment and other court documents, on May 7, 2025, Quintero and Arias-Chicas encountered Minor Victim 1 (MV1), a 16-year-old female, near the intersection of Greenbrier Drive and Seminole Trail in Charlottesville. Quintero and Arias-Chicas did not know the victim before the encounter. However, they purchased alcohol for MV1. Specifically, they purchased Mike’s Harder Mango Lemonade (8% alcohol by volume) and Four Loko (13.9% alcohol by volume). MV1 consumed the alcohol and became intoxicated.

That same night, police received a call from a citizen reporting two males carrying a young female, who appeared to be intoxicated. The citizen stopped and asked if they needed help, but the two individuals said they were taking MV1 to the hospital.

After getting MV1 intoxicated, Quintero and Arias-Chicas sexually assaulted MV1 throughout the night and into the next morning. Late in the morning on May 8, 2025, Quintero and Arias-Chicas dropped MV1 off near an apartment complex in Albemarle County.

Law enforcement found MV1 wrapped in a brown blanket, staggering down the sidewalk on Commonwealth Avenue, visibly upset, and wearing clothes that she later said did not belong to her.  Investigators were later able to identify Quintero and Arias-Chicas as two of the men who initially made contact with MV1. Further investigation revealed that Arias-Chicas was on probation.

On June 16, 2025, Arias-Chicas was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations on an unrelated matter. During this arrest, ICE recovered a phone belonging to Arias-Chicas, which contained evidence linking him to the sexual assault of MV1 on May 7 and 8.

Two months after assaulting MV1, in the middle of July 2025, Quintero reconnected with MV1 via social media, and they began to engage in sexual conversation. In the course of this conversation, Quintero also tried to get MV1 to engage in additional sexual activity with him.

Robert N. Tracci, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia made the announcement today.

Homeland Security Investigations in Harrisonburg is investigating the case. The Albemarle County Police Department provided valuable assistance in the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Scheff is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.