An individual of Indian nationality, found guilty of offenses related to child exploitation but handed lenient penalties, has been apprehended subsequent to his release from a detention facility in Maryland without forewarning to federal immigration authorities, as per officials. The 32-year-old man, whose identity remains undisclosed, was detained on March 20 close to his residence in Ellicott City. He was apprehended by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Baltimore, a division of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (CBP), as stated on Thursday.
The existence of this assailant in our vicinity posed a notable peril to the children of our Maryland communities, declared Matthew Elliston, acting field office director for Baltimore’s ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations. We cannot tolerate the presence of non-citizen perpetrators of sexual offenses in our neighborhoods. ERO Baltimore will persist in prioritizing public safety by apprehending the most egregious noncitizen offenders, he affirmed.
The Indian national, as cited by ERO Baltimore without disclosing his name, entered the US on December 12, 2019, via Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, under the classification of a nonimmigrant visitor. He was apprehended by US Customs and Border Protection on November 14, 2021, at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, during an attempt to board a Qatar Airlines flight bound for Doha, Qatar.
He was the subject of an active warrant issued by Maryland’s Montgomery County Police Department for the sexual exploitation of a minor and a third-degree sexual offense. CBP granted him temporary release until November 12, 2022, and transferred him to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department for extradition to Maryland.
On the same day, US Customs and Border Protection issued an immigration detainer against the Indian non-citizen to the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Brooklyn, New York. He was apprehended by the Montgomery County Police Department on November 18, 2021, and charged with the sexual exploitation of a minor and four counts of third-degree sexual offenses.
The Howard County Police Department in Maryland arrested him on February 15, 2022, and charged him with two counts of the sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of third-degree sexual offenses. The Pacific Enforcement Response Center lodged an immigration detainer against the Indian non-citizen with the Howard County Detention Center on February 16, 2022, according to a media release.
The Circuit Court for Montgomery County in Rockville convicted him on August 10, 2022, of the sexual exploitation of a minor and a third-degree sexual offense. The judge imposed a 25-year prison sentence for the crime of sexual exploitation of a minor but suspended all but 18 months of the term. Additionally, the court sentenced him to 10 years for the charge of third-degree sexual offense but suspended the entirety of the term.
He was placed under 5 years of supervised probation. The Circuit Court for Howard County in Ellicott City convicted the Indian non-citizen on August 23, 2022, of a third-degree sexual offense and sentenced him to 10 years in prison, suspending all but 18 months, according to reports. ERO Baltimore lodged an immigration detainer against him with the Howard County Detention Center on February 1.
On February 25, ERO Baltimore issued him a notice to appear before a Department of Justice (DOJ) immigration judge, as detailed in the media release. The Howard County Detention Center declined to honor ERO Baltimore’s immigration detainer and released the Indian sex offender from custody on March 20. Subsequently, deportation officers from ERO Baltimore’s Criminal Apprehension Program apprehended him in Ellicott City later that day.
A DOJ immigration judge in Baltimore granted him a Motion for Stipulated Removal Order and Waiver of Hearing, ordering his removal to India, according to the press release.