A Bangladeshi illegal alien who earlier this year was arrested by Connecticut State Police on multiple charges of sexual abuse of a minor is in custody on a federal immigration hold at the Cumberland County Jail in Maine.
Monir Uddin, 47, was arrested in late April by deportation officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Litchfield, Conn., after he was charged locally with multiple counts of commercial sex abuse, illegal sexual contact with a minor, fourth degree sexual assault, risk of injury to child and the illegal sale of tobacco to a person under 21 years of age.
The litany of charges stem from a January incident in which Uddin, while working as a clerk a Litchfield convenience store, allegedly sexually assaulted a group of three 14-year-old girls and gave them nicotine vapes, according to an arrest warrant.
Connecticut State Police indicated in the warrant that troopers responded to the convenience store after midnight on Jan. 14 for a report that a store clerk nicknamed “Moon,” who was later identified by police as Uddin, allegedly “made suggestive comments” to a group of juvenile females and “made them feel uncomfortable.”
A trooper who responded to the convenience store reported that upon arrival, one of the juvenile victims “looked physically distraught and was visibly shaking.”
One of the girls told state police that they had come to the store because they heard a rumor that “if ‘Moon’ was shown [redacted] he would provided them with free nicotine products.”
The juvenile told police that “Moon” had brought the three 14-year-old girls outside to the back of the store.
According to the heavily redacted warrant, “Moon” allegedly instructed the girls “to show him [redacted],” and when the girls attempted to return inside the store, “Moon” reportedly stood in front of the door and prevented them from going inside.
“We were terrified because we tried going inside,” one of the juveniles told state police, “and he wouldn’t let us leave, so we did as instructed.”
Uddin allegedly then touched, hugged and kissed the minor females, gave them nicotine vapes and made them promise not to tell anyone about what happened before they left, police said.
In a February interview with Connecticut State Police detectives, Uddin admitted to giving the minors vapes and to hugging them, but denied any further wrongdoing, claiming that the juveniles “fabricated the story because they were upset that he wouldn’t sell them what they wanted.”
According to ICE, Uddin is a Bangladeshi national who first entered the U.S. in October 2017 for the purpose of transiting through the country. However, he violated the terms of his admittance after he remained in the U.S. beyond Nov. 7, 2017, the agency said.
ICE said in a May press release that Uddin will remain in federal custody pending a future hearing before a Department of Justice immigration judge.
Records from Cumberland County Jail indicate Uddin was booked on Thursday, Sept. 5, on a federal hold. He is being held without bail.
Major Tim Kortes, jail administrator for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed to the Maine Wire on Friday that Uddin is being held at the jail on federal charges, not on charges local to Maine.
It is unclear why Uddin is being held in custody at the Maine jail, and not at the New Haven Correction Center in New Haven, Conn., where ICE stated in their May press release Uddin was being held.
The Maine Wire is awaiting a response from ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston field office for more information on the matter.
This story will be updated if the Maine Wire receives a response from ICE-ERO Boston.
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