NEW YORK, NY - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and officers of the New York City Department of Probation, today arrested 45 child predators and criminal alien sex offenders in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan. Today's initiative is a part of the on-going Operation Predator initiative and a national priority for ICE.

All of the those arrested today were on probation in New York City for prior felony or misdemeanor convictions including rape, sexual abuse, sexual misconduct, criminal sexual act, endangering the welfare of a child and course of sexual conduct. The youngest victim was a seven year old girl and the oldest was a 16 year old female. Three of the victims were male.

Those arrested today include:

• A citizen of Bangladesh was arrested by the New York City Police Department and charged with rape, sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. He was convicted of endangering the welfare of a child and sentenced to three years probation. He had had intercourse with his 14 year old cousin.
• A citizen of Trinidad was arrested by the New York City Police Department and convicted of raping his 15 year old step daughter and was sentenced to six months incarceration and 10 years probation.
• A Panamanian national was arrested by the New York City Police Department and charged with 8 counts of rape, 14 counts of sexual abuse, 8 counts of sexual misconduct, 8 counts of incest, course of sexual conduct against a child and endangering the welfare of a child. He was convicted of attempted rape and sentenced to five years probation. His victim was an 11 year old girl at the time of the crime.
• A citizen of Dominica was arrested by the New York City Police Department and charged with incest, 3 counts of sexual misconduct, rape, and endangering the welfare of a child. He was convicted of rape and sentenced to 10 years probation. The victim was a 15 year old female.
• A national of the Dominican Republic was arrested by the New York City Police Department and charged with attempted sodomy, assault and endangering the welfare of a child. He was convicted of attempted sexual abuse and sentenced to 10 years probation. The victim was an 11 year old male at the time of the crime.
• A female citizen of Romania was arrested by the New York City Police Department and charged with rape and endangering the welfare of a child. She was convicted of endangering the welfare of a child and sentenced to three years probation. Her victim was a 13 year old boy.

"We are determined to make our communities safer for everyone," said New York ICE Special Agent in Charge Martin D. Ficke. "Our message is clear: If you are preying on our children, we will find you, arrest you and if you are not a US citizen, we will remove you from this country."

NYC Probation Commissioner Martin F. Horn remarked, "The Department of Probation welcomes the opportunity to work once again with ICE agents and the Department of Homeland Security. The probationers taken into custody today represent the worst of the worst. Living in this country is a privilege and these probationers do not deserve that privilege."

Today's arrests included citizens of the following countries: Bangladesh, Bosnia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Romania and Trinidad. Non-citizen sex offenders are subject to administrative removal from the U.S. by ICE. Twenty of the aliens were in the country illegally and 25 were legal permanent residents. ICE agents transported the aliens to various detention facilities where they will be detained and placed into removal proceedings. Those with final orders of removal will be deported from the country shortly. The others will have their cases heard before an Immigration Judge.

Ficke thanked his special agents and officers from the New York Detention and Removal Office, the Federal Protective Service and the New York City Department of Probation for their investigations which culminated in today's arrests.

ICE's Operation Predator protects children by investigating and presenting for prosecution pedophiles, Internet predators, human traffickers, international sex tourists and other predatory criminals. Since Operation Predator was launched on July 9, 2003, ICE agents have arrested more than 9,000 child predators and sex offenders nationwide. With today's operation, the New York ICE Office has arrested more than 600 child predators and sex offenders.

ICE has a toll-free number for the public to provide leads to its enforcement team on any violations, including tips about child pornography, child sex offenders and others preying on children. The toll-free number (1- 866-DHS-2ICE) is monitored 24 hours a day by officers at the ICE Law Enforcement Support Center. For more information on Operation Predator, please visit the ICE website at www.ice.gov.

-- ICE --