U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) this week announced the arrest of an illegal Guatemalan national who was released by a Massachusetts court after being arraigned on multiple counts of child rape.
ICE agents with Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston apprehended 49-year-old Jose Fernando-Perez in Framingham, Mass., on Feb. 2.
According to ICE, Fernando entered the country on an unknown date and at an unknown location while avoiding inspection by immigration officials — what is commonly referred to as a ‘gotaway’ in the context of illegal immigration.
Fernando was arraigned in the Lynn, Mass. District Court in April 2022 for rape of a child by force, a case which was later dismissed due to a superseding indictment brought against Fernando in the Essex County Superior Court.
The Essex County Superior Court in Salem, Mass., arraigned Fernando on three counts of rape of a child by force and three counts of aggravated rape of a child.
Although ICE lodged an immigration detainer against Fernando with the Essex County House of Correction on May 16, 2022, the Superior Court ignored the detainer and released him on pretrial conditions in October 2022, ICE stated in a press release.
“Jose Fernando-Perez has been charged with some horrific crimes against a minor in our commonwealth,” said ICE-ERO Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde said on Wednesday.
“He is exactly the type of alien we are targeting with our ‘worst first’ policy. He posed a significant danger to the children of Massachusetts, and we will not tolerate such a threat to our community,” Hyde said. “ICE Boston will continue to prioritize the safety of our public by arresting and removing egregious alien offenders from our New England communities.”
Fernando was previously convicted in October 2012 in Lynn of leaving the scene of an accident with property damage and for attaching inaccurate license plates.
ICE stated that Fernando has been served with a noticer to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge and remains in federal custody.
0 Comments