An Indian national, convicted of child sex offenses and given lenient sentences, was arrested recently after being released from a Maryland detention center without warning to federal immigration authorities, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (CBP). The 32-year-old man, whose identity remains undisclosed, was taken into custody on March 20 near his residence in Ellicott City, located 38 miles north of Washington D.C.
Matthew Elliston, the acting field office director for Baltimore's ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, stated, "This predator’s presence in our area posed a significant threat to the children of our Maryland neighborhoods.
We cannot allow non-citizen sex offenders to freely move about our community. ERO Baltimore will continue to prioritize public safety by apprehending the most egregious non-citizen offenders."
The arrest was based on a warrant from Montgomery County, Maryland, related to child sex offenses, as detailed in an ICE news release.
The man had been placed on sex offender parole by CBP until Nov. 12, 2022, and was handed over to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department for extradition to Maryland. CBP issued an immigration detainer against him with the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Brooklyn, New York.
He was subsequently apprehended by the Montgomery County Police Department and charged with sex abuse of a minor and four counts of sex offense in the third degree.
On Feb. 15, 2022, the Howard County Police Department in Maryland also arrested the Indian citizen, charging him with two counts of sex abuse of a minor and two counts of sex offense in the third degree. Allegedly, another detainer was placed for him at the Howard County Detention Center on Feb. 16, 2022.
Following his conviction by a Montgomery County court on Aug.
10 of that year, he received a 25-year prison sentence for a charge of sex abuse of a minor, but the judge suspended all but 18 months of the sentence. Additionally, he was sentenced to 10 years for a charge of sex offense in the third degree, but again, the judge suspended all 10 years, placing him on five years of supervised probation.
Approximately two weeks later, the suspect was convicted and sentenced in a Howard County court to another 10-year sentence for a sex offense in the third degree.
Similar to the Montgomery County case, the Howard County court judge suspended all but 18 months of the sentence, according to ICE.
An immigration detainer hold was placed on him at the Howard County Detention Center on Feb. 1, and he was issued a notice on Feb. 25 to appear before an immigration judge.
"The Howard County Detention Center refused to honor ERO Baltimore’s immigration detainer and released the Indian sex offender from custody on March 20," an ICE statement said.
"Later that day, deportation officers from ERO Baltimore’s Criminal Apprehension Program arrested him in Ellicott City."
A federal immigration judge ordered the man to be deported to India.