Convicted Child Rapist Arrested At SoCal US Border Patrol Checkpoint

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — A Guatemalan citizen previously deported from the United States following a child rape conviction in Indiana was taken into custody earlier this month after being discovered at an immigration checkpoint near the Salton Sea, the U.S. Border Patrol reported Tuesday.

The man's name and age were not provided, but the USBP said he was apprehended late Dec. 4 at the Highway 86 immigration checkpoint in Imperial County near the Salton Sea.

The undocumented citizen was convicted of child rape in 2014 in Indianapolis and was subsequently deported in 2017. Then, in June 2023, he attempted to reenter the U.S. as part of a maritime smuggling incident near San Clemente, Calif. He was sentenced to six months behind bars for illegal reentry of a convicted felon, according to the USBP narrative.

It's not clear whether the man was immediately deported and reentered the country again.

His latest arrest occurred after agents assigned to the El Centro Sector Border Patrol flagged a red SUV at the desert checkpoint. The Guatemalan citizen, who was a passenger in the vehicle, raised agents' suspicion, and a records check uncovered his background, according to the federal law enforcement agency.

The man will be sent back to Guatemala. The driver and vehicle were released, the USBP reported.

“The Indio Border Patrol agent working the checkpoint that day may have well-prevented harm to another child," said El Centro Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino. "Lord have mercy, but I stay up thinking about things like this — good job to our Border Patrol agent.”