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| The owner of this home on Little Horseshoe Drive in Virginia Beach has been arrested on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Two other residents face charges as well.
(sTephen m. katz/the virginian-pilot) |
By Duane Bourne
The Virginian-Pilot
VIRGINIA BEACH - The neighborhood near Hilltop was quiet until "that lady and her problems" moved into 1532 Little Horseshoe Drive - a $500,000 brick ranch-style house with a pool - more than a year ago.
Neighbors said the woman of the house did not seem to fit into the neighborhood of pricey homes. Neither did the others - some of them minors - who drifted in and out of the house at all hours.
So, the neighbors complained.
Before long, police officers had responded to 20 calls to the house for complaints of fighting, domestic assaults, drugs and disputes.
Investigators eventually came to believe that the house might be a den of drugs and prostitution that advertised on Craigslist.org, according to a police search warrant affidavit.
Over the weekend, police raided the house.
On Sunday, police charged three residents - Silesia Hope Rogowski, 38; her son, Ryan Rogowski, 20; and George Kyriacou, her 45-year-old boyfriend who owns the property - with several counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Silesia Rogowski was also charged with drug possession.
Neighbors fear that this isn't the end of the matter. Several interviewed for this story asked that their names not be disclosed because they worry about retaliation.
Meanwhile, Silesia Rogowski - who has been arrested 32 times in Virginia Beach since 1990 and convicted of five felonies, according to the search warrant affidavit - is being held at the city jail. Her son and boyfriend have been released, police spokeswoman Margie Long said.
Neighbors said they long suspected that something was going on at the house, but they couldn't say just what.
Some called police. Others videotaped the goings-on.
Police took their time building a case.
At least three times in October, officers were dispatched to the house on reports that minors were drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana.
In one case, an anonymous caller to Crime Solvers claimed that the property was being used to distribute drugs and might be a prostitution house, according to the search warrant affidavit.
Acting on that tip, police learned that sexual services were being offered online by a woman named Hope, the affidavit said. A listing at Craigslist.org, under the Web site's "erotic services" section, described a unique headboard inside the house, a lighted hallway with sexually explicit photographs and a phone number.
It was the same phone number Silesia Rogowski gave to a police officer during an earlier encounter, the affidavit said.
As the investigation continued and calls from neighbors intensified, Silesia Rogowski appeared to take notice. One resident said she scoffed at neighbors and cursed at them as they drove down the street.
Silesia Rogowski is due in court Feb. 15.
Police said the investigation is ongoing.
• Reach Duane Bourne at (757) 222-5150 or at duane.bourne@pilotonline.com.
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