BENTON COUNTY, Ark. (KNWA/FOX24) — Several former employees of the Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter say leadership waited too long to act in dealing with another former staff member, Hunter De La Garza.
Rogers police arrested De La Garza on February 26th. He’s accused of raping a 10-year-old girl in the shelter’s care.
According to its website, the NWA Children’s Shelter residents are placed there by the Department of Human Services Division of Children & Family Services in response to a report or allegation of child abuse or neglect or an intervention by law enforcement. It says 80% of children coming to the shelter faced neglect, 15% faced physical abuse and 5% faced sexual abuse.
“I think one of the saddest things is that none of us were surprised,” said Former Employee 1. KNWA/FOX24 communicated with three former employees who want to remain anonymous.
Some of these former shelter employees were not shocked to learn of De La Garza’s arrest. Court documents say the rape happened in a bathroom at the Promenade Mall in Rogers in February 2021.
“I knew the little girl really well,” said Former Employee 1. “A lot of my friends knew the girl really well, um, and saw a change in behavior from her, you know, when it occurred.”
Two of the former employees said they saw De La Garza grooming certain young female residents.
“There was a six-year-old girl and she was overly attached to him,” said Former Employee 1. “He carried her everywhere. He went into the bathroom with...
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