Indian child sex offender arrested after Maryland courts give light sentences: Report

Washington: An Indian national convicted of child sex offenses, but given light sentences, has been arrested after he was released from a Maryland detention center without any warning to federal immigration authorities, official said.

The 32-year-old man, who has not been identified, was arrested on March 20 near his home in Ellicott City. He was arrested by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Baltimore, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (CBP) said Thursday.

“This predator's presence in our area constituted a significant threat to the children of our Maryland neighbourhoods,” said Matthew Elliston, the acting field office director for Baltimore's ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations.

“We cannot allow non-citizen sex offenders to roam the streets of our community. ERO Baltimore will continue to prioritise public safety by arresting the most egregious noncitizen offenders,” he said.

Without releasing the name, the ERO Baltimore said the Indian national entered the US on December 12, 2019, at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, as a nonimmigrant visitor.

US Customs and Border Protection apprehended him on November 14, 2021, at John F Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, as he attempted to board a Qatar Airlines flight to Doha, Qatar.

He had an active warrant issued by Maryland’s Montgomery County Police Department for sex abuse of a minor and sex offence in the third degree.

The CBP granted him parole until November 12, 2022, and turned him over to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department for extradition to Maryland.

On the same date, US Customs and Border Protection lodged an immigration detainer against the Indian non-citizen with the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Brooklyn, New York.

The Montgomery County Police Department arrested him on November 18, 2021, and charged him with sex abuse of a minor and four counts of sex offence in the third degree.

Maryland’s Howard County Police Department arrested him on February 15, 2022, and charged him with two counts of sex abuse of a minor, and two counts of a sex offence in the third degree.

The Pacific Enforcement Response Center lodged an immigration detainer against the Indian non-citizen with the Howard County Detention Center on February 16, 2022, a media release said.

The Circuit Court for Montgomery County in Rockville convicted him on August 10, 2022, of sex abuse minor and sex offence third degree.

The judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison for the crime of sexual abuse of a minor and suspended all but 18 months of the sentence. The court also sentenced him to 10 years for the charge of sex offence in the third degree but suspended all 10 years.

He was placed on 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 sex offence in the third degree and sentenced him to 10 years in prison, suspending all but 18 months, it said.

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, the media release said.

The Howard County Detention Center refused to honour ERO Baltimore’s immigration detainer and released the Indian sex offender from custody on March 20. Later that day, deportation officers from ERO Baltimore’s Criminal Apprehension Program arrested him in Ellicott City.

A DOJ immigration judge in Baltimore granted him a Motion for Stipulated Removal Order and Waiver of Hearing and ordered him removed to India, the press release said.