U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol assisted a Michigan county Sheriff’s Office in a raid that netted six arrests in a suspected sexual assault ring. Three of the six arrested were in the U.S. illegally.
One of the illegal aliens is from Mexico and has been deported twice already. Mexican national Leocado Hernandez-Garcia was arrested for raping an 18-year-old girl in Houghton Lake, Mich., according to a ICE news release. He faces five counts of criminal sexual conduct.
An investigation discovered that adult men had been communicating with multiple teenage girls from the Houghton Lake area, UpNorthLive reports. Several homes in Roscommon Township and Houghton Lake were searched on Friday, April 25, leading to the arrest of six suspects, the sheriff’s office reported.
After being deported from the United States in 2014, Hernandez-Garcia was encountered again in 2023 and expelled under Title 42. He reentered the United States a third time at unknown date and location without inspection by an immigration official, the release states.
Special agents from ICE Homeland Security Investigations Traverse City and U.S. Border Patrol Station Sault Ste. Marie helped with the arrests.
The other suspects arrested have not been identified. The two other alleged illegal immigrants were turned over to federal authorities pending immigration proceedings.
The sheriff’s office has not released further details as the investigation remains ongoing with the continued assistance of ICE and Border Patrol, according to news reports.
ICE established the Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office to acknowledge and serve the needs of victims and families who have been affected by crimes committed by individuals with a nexus to immigration violations.
Incidents of human trafficking, kidnapping and sexual assault are being reported across the country, as perpetrators contact victims through social media and other electronic communications.
“ICE HSI Detroit is committed to assisting our local partners like the Roscommon County Sheriff’s Office on crimes involving illegal aliens in their jurisdiction,” said ICE HSI Detroit acting Special Agent in Charge Jared Murphey, in the press release. “Our thoughts are with the victim at this time, and we hope that these recent steps toward justice and accountability can help her on the road to recovery and healing.”
In another recent case, an illegal alien and DACA recipient in North Carolina was arrested for rape and kidnapping of a 14-year-old girl after she didn’t come home from school. Local authorities tracked down Victor Alfonso Villalba Bustamante, 41, and the teen at a Red Roof Inn in Sanford, N.C. Warrants show Bustamante used Facebook to communicate with the victim.
