March 2, 2005

ICE ARRESTS 27 SEXUAL PREDATORS IN SUFFOLK COUNTY

NEW YORK, NY - - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and officers of the Suffolk County Police Department today arrested 27 child predators and criminal alien sex offenders in Suffolk County.

All of the aliens arrested today had prior felony or misdemeanor convictions for sex offenses committed in Suffolk County and are eligible for removal from the United States. These convictions included rape, sexual abuse, sexual misconduct and forcible touching.

Special Agent-in-Charge Martin D. Ficke explained, “As we work aggressively to put integrity back into the immigration system, we’re focusing our efforts on those who pose the greatest threat to public safety. Those who prey on children are on notice: this repugnant behavior will not be tolerated.”

Among those arrested today were:

• A Guatemalan illegal alien male previously convicted of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree. The victim was seven years old when the crime was committed.
  
  
• A Salvadoran national illegal alien previously convicted of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree. The victim was 10 years old when the crime was committed.
  
  
• An Ecuadorian illegal alien male previously convicted for Sexual Abuse in the First Degree. The victim was six years old when the crime was committed.
  
  
• A Salvadoran national illegal alien previously convicted for Sexual Abuse in the First Degree. The victim was nine years old when the crime was committed.
  
  
• A Honduran illegal alien male previously convicted of Rape in the Second Degree. The victim was 12 years old when the crime was committed.

Following the arrests, ICE agents transported the aliens to contract detention facilities in Passaic and Bergen County, New Jersey. All of those apprehended have been 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.

Special Agent-in-Charge Ficke thanked his special agents and officers from the New York ICE Detention and Removal Office, the Suffolk County Police Department and the Suffolk County Probation Department.

This action is part of Operation Predator, a comprehensive national initiative to protect young people from sexual predators. Operation Predator targets human traffickers, international sex tourists, Internet pornographers and foreign national predators whose crimes make them deportable.

Additional information about Operation Predator is available on the Web at www.ice.gov.

ICE encourages the reporting of suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE. Investigators staff this hotline around the clock.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.