An undocumented immigrant who has been accused of multiple crimes in Massachusetts in the past two years, including sex crimes against children, was arrested last week and is awaiting removal proceedings, federal agents in Boston announced.
According to a press release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), deportation officers from Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston apprehended the 33-year-old Guatemalan national on Thursday near his home in Lynn, Mass.
The man, whose name was not released, is expected to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge, and will remain in ICE custody pending deportation.
“This unlawfully present Guatemalan national has been charged with sex crimes against Massachusetts children. His very presence in our community represents a dire threat to our residents," Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons said in a statement. “ERO Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing any such threat to the people of New England.”
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Immigration officials say they do not know when or where the man entered the United States without being inspected, admitted, or paroled, but that he was first arrested in Lynn in March 2022. At that time, he was arraigned on charges of assault and battery on a household member, strangulation/suffocation, and reckless endangerment of child. Close to a year later, in February 2023, ICE claims that Lynn District Court dismissed all charges against him.
A few months later, in June 2023, the man was arraigned in East Boston District Court on new charges of compulsory insurance violation; number plate obscured/not displayed/concealed ID; and forgery. The court dismissed those charges, as well, according to ICE.
Then in November 2023, Lynn District Court arraigned the man on multiple new charges, this time including three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14; assault to rape a child; two counts of assault and battery on child with injury; and intimidation. ICE says the court ultimately dismissed all indictments for superior court arraignment.
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ERO Boston lodged an arrest warrant and immigration detainer against the man on Nov. 20, 2023, with the Essex County Correctional Facility in Middleton, Mass.
He was arraigned in Essex Superior Court on Feb. 26, 2024, on nine counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14; rape of a child; two counts of assault and battery; and intimidation of a witness.
According to ICE, the Massachusetts Court System refused to honor ERO Boston’s immigration detainer and ordered the release of the man on an unknown date.
A spokesperson for the Essex County Sheriff's Department released a statement of its own, seeming to refute part of that information, saying that what is told to the public must be clear and correct.
"The Essex County Sheriff’s Department did receive a detainer for this individual on Nov. 8, 2023 while this person was in our custody being held on state charges. As per our protocols, the detainer was delivered to the Lynn District Court along with the individual for a January court date. The detainer was signed for by court officials and acknowledged. The individual was released from court and never returned to the custody of the Essex County Sheriff’s Department."
"We value our law enforcement partners working together to keep our communities safe, but the information that we provide to our citizens must be clear and correct," the sheriff's department spokesperson added.
Anyone with information regarding child sex offenders is encouraged to report crimes or suspicious activity to the ICE tip line at 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423).
