An illegal alien from El Salvador has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for raping an 11-year-old girl multiple times in her Virginia Beach home.
Ricardo Leonel Mejia, 35, was booked Thursday in the Virginia Beach Correctional Center. He was also convicted of statutory burglary and indecent liberties with a child under 15 years old.
BREAKING: Ricardo Mejia, an ILLEGAL ALIEN from El Salvador, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for R*PING an 11-YEAR-OLD girl MULTIPLE times.
Mejia was hired as a contractor in Virginia Beach to renovate a family home. He then broke into the home three different times to… pic.twitter.com/wKraXIXtUf
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 8, 2025
The victim’s mother found Mejia naked and in bed with the child on October 9, 2024. Mejia fled through an open window.
“The mother recognized Mejia as a man whom the family had hired to renovate one of the bathrooms in their home,” a news release from the city of Virginia Beach said.
Mejia pleaded guilty in June and admitted to raping the girl two other times before being caught the third time. A forensic analysis conducted during the investigation found Mejia DNA on the victim.
According to the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement put out a detainer for Mejia so he’ll be transferred to their custody after serving his sentence.
Ricardo Lionel Mejia, 35, (sentenced yesterday) was booked into the #VirginiaBeach Correctional Center on Oct. 9, 2024, on charges of raping a victim under age 13 (3 charges), indecent liberties w/a child under 15 & statutory burglary. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement… pic.twitter.com/fy0XigpPBf
— VB Sheriff's Office (@VBSO) October 8, 2025
Virginia Lieutenant Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who’s running for governor as a Republican, said she was “absolutely sickened beyond words” by the crime.
I am absolutely sickened beyond words. An illegal immigrant from El Salvador in Norfolk r*ped an 11-year old girl. Her life will never be the same.
And Abigail Spanberger wants to make us a sanctuary state? pic.twitter.com/sA6IamGsVu
— Winsome Earle-Sears (@winwithwinsome) October 8, 2025
