A Guatemalan man living in America illegally was arrested by immigration authorities last month for allegedly sexually abusing a child in Rhode Island after he was released from local custody.
Felix Meletz Guarcas, 45, was released from the Rhode Island Department of Corrections despite a request by immigration detainers from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain him until federal authorities can take him into custody, ICE said.
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Felix Meletz Guarcas, 45, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, is charged with child sexual abuse in Rhode Island. (ICE)
The detainee requests that local authorities notify immigration agents when the suspected illegal alien is due for release, so federal authorities can apprehend the person to begin deportation proceedings.
“We use immigration detainees as public safety tools,” Boston Field Office Acting Director Patricia Hyde said in a statement. “We asked the Rhode Island Department of Corrections to take Meletz Guarcas into their custody, but he was released to home detention.”
“Unfortunately, the Department of Corrections does not reverse home detention, so the police team was forced to arrest him in a public parking lot in Cranston, rather than arrest him in a controlled environment,” he added.
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An exterior view of the headquarters of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is seen on July 6, 2018 in Washington, DC. In the US (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
It is not known when Meletz Guarcas entered the US illegally, ICE said.
On Feb. 16, 2022, was arrested by the Pawtucket Police Department in Rhode Island for disorderly conduct and harassment of police and other officers. He was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison.
On Nov. 20, Meletz Guarcas was arrested again and charged with first-degree felony child sexual abuse and five counts of child sexual abuse, ICE said.
The incident happened on September 3, authorities said.
A law enforcement officer walks past an ICE sign before a press conference Thursday, May 11, 2017, at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in Washington, DC. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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Meletz Guarcas is still in ICE custody and the charges against him are pending.
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