A 37-year-old Brazilian man who allegedly skipped out on a 14-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting a child in his native country was arrested during a traffic stop near his home on Martha’s Vineyard last week and remains in federal custody in Boston, officials said Monday.
The man “received multiple criminal convictions” for raping a 5-year-old child, and Brazilian authorities issued a warrant for his arrest after he failed to appear for a sentencing hearing in May 2019, according to a statement from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The man was arrested during a traffic stop Nov. 14 near his home in West Tisbury, according to the statement. Officials did not disclose the man’s name.
Advertisement
The man entered the country unlawfully “on an unknown date at an unknown location,” the statement said.
The Boston Enforcement and Removal Operations team at ICE learned Sept. 28 that the man was on Martha’s Vineyard, officials said.
“This undocumented Brazilian national represented a significant threat to the inhabitants of Martha’s Vineyard,” Todd Lyons, ERO’s Boston field office director, said in the statement. “He sexually assaulted a five-year-old child in his homeland and then ran from authorities when held accountable for his actions.”
“ERO Boston will not allow such predators to threaten our residents,” Lyons said. “We will continue to apprehend and remove anyone who attempts to use our New England community as a refuge from justice.”
Deportation officers issued a notice to the man to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge during his arrest, officials said. He will remain in ERO custody pending his removal proceedings.
@EROBoston arrests Brazilian convicted sex offender fugitive on Martha's Vineyard. Read more: https://t.co/48y18wzn8a. pic.twitter.com/ok0rKpmM19
— ERO Boston (@EROBoston) November 20, 2023
Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez.