No motive clear in mutilation case

By Jerry Sena

jtsena@wataugademocrat.com

A Zionville man accused of mutilating the genitals of a disabled man under his care at a Deep Gap group care home remained jailed as of Tuesday and law-enforcement officials maintained their silence on any possible motive for the attack.

In the wake of the bizarre assault, Steven Neal Rodriguez, 29, of 423 Silverleaf Road, Zionville, is facing felony charges of assault on the handicapped and malicious castration.

Watauga County Sheriff Mark Shook said Rodriguez, a caretaker at the RHA Health Services group home on Wildcat Road in Deep Gap, used a razor blade to remove the skin from the genitals of a 35-year-old mentally and physically disabled man on May 15.

On Friday, Shook said he was having trouble fathoming the cruelty of the assault.

“This is a very unusual case,” Shook said.

“In my 20 years in law enforcement, I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Attempts by the Watauga Democrat to locate the family of the victim, Choe Wilborn, have been unsuccessful. Federal privacy laws prohibit medical facilities from revealing information about their patients.

Shook said Wilborn was taken for treatment to the Watauga Medical Center where he is reportedly recovering from his injuries.

Little has been revealed of Wilborn’s alleged assailant, either. Gordon J. Simmons, CEO of Asheville-based RHA Health Services, said Rodriguez had worked as what he called a “habitation technician” at the home for about five years.

An inquiry through the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Facility Services failed to turn up Rodriguez’s name in its Health Care Personnel Registry. 

Shook said he was unsure from where Rodriguez had come and could not say how long he’d lived in Watauga County.

No one answered the door at Rodriguez’s Silverleaf Road residence Monday afternoon.

Simmons said the allegations against Rodriguez had surprised officials at the non-profit agency, which operates dozens of facilities throughout North Carolina and Tennessee.

“We were shocked,” Simmons said. “We’d never had any trouble from him before now.”

Simmons said Wilborn’s injuries were discovered “best guess, about 15 to 20 minutes” after being inflicted. He said Wilborn had been transported to the medical center immediately after.

An incident report filed by sheriff’s detective Dee Dee Rominger indicated Wilborn was last checked at 2 a.m. and his wound discovered three hours later.

The report also notes that the assault was reported to authorities 28 hours later, at 9:10 a.m. on the 16th.

Simmons said managers with the care home called the Sheriff’s Office when they began to suspect the wounds might not be self-inflicted.

Simmons said his company is also conducting an investigation into the incident.

Rodriguez is being held in the Watauga County Detention Center pending a $500,000 secured bond.

He is scheduled to appear June 28 in District Court.