ICE says illegal alien was arrested for child molestation after Virginia police ignored detainer on prior molestation charge

The Department of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that an illegal alien had been arrested for child molestation after local officials ignored an ICE detainer on a previous molestation charge.

ICE issued a press release detailing the arrest of the unnamed 30-year-old immigrant at his residence in Bladensburg, Maryland, on April 15.

The Honduran national was arrested in July and charged with felony carnal knowledge of child 13-14 years of age without force, according to the release.

ICE says officers issued a detainer to hold the man for possible deportation, but the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center denied the request and released the man on a $10,000 bond on July 10.

Fairfax police officers then arrested the same immigrant in February on two counts of the same charge and also one additional charge of felony indecent liberties with a child less than 15 years of age.

Fairfax officials released him again on the same day before ICE could issue a detainer.

ICE said that deportation officers arrested him in April and served him with a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge.

ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations field director Liana Castano lambasted Fairfax officials for ignoring a detainer request and allowing the illegal immigrant to reoffend.

“This Honduran noncitizen stands accused of some very serious crimes and represented a threat to the children of the Washington, D.C. area,” said Castano.

“When local jurisdictions have policies in place which prohibit them from cooperating with ICE ERO and from honoring our lawfully issued detainers and administrative warrants, they put the suspects, law enforcement officers, and most importantly, the members of our local communities at risk,” she added. “ERO Washington, D.C. will continue to prioritize public safety by apprehending and removing the most egregious noncitizen threats from our neighborhoods.”

A similar incident unfolded in December when Fairfax officials ignored an ICE detainer on a 21-year-old immigrant also from Honduras who had raped a minor and produced child pornography.

ICE officials criticized local authorities who ignored detainers at that time as well.

“When ICE detainers are ignored by local authorities, the public is put at risk; unfortunately, this time the result was the unnecessary injury of a federal law enforcement officer while prosecuting the arrest of a noncitizen charged with sexually abusing a Virginia minor and producing child sexual abuse material,” said Deputy Field Office Director Erik Weiss.

Here’s more about the prior detainer failure: