Court Released Illegal Immigrant Accused of Raping Child

An illegal immigrant accused of forcibly raping a minor in Massachusetts was released back into the community by court officials, despite an active immigration detainer against him, according to Enforcement and Removal Operations agents.

Maynor Francisco Hernandez-Rodas, a 38-year-old Guatemalan national, entered the U.S. illegally as a “gotaway”—someone observed crossing the border but who is not apprehended and returned—and was charged in June with aggravated forcible rape of a child in Massachusetts.

Immigration officers arrested Hernandez-Rodas in Lowell, Massachusetts, on September 20, according to a statement from Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston. He is currently being held in federal custody.

“Maynor Francisco Hernandez-Rodas stands accused of horrific crimes against a Massachusetts child,” ERO Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde said in a statement on Tuesday. “He represents a significant danger to the children of our community that we will not tolerate.”

It remains unknown when, where, or how he entered the country.

Hernandez-Rodas was arrested by Lowell police on June 20, 2024, for aggravated rape of a child and rape of a child with force, officials said.

Authorities lodged an immigration detainer against Hernandez-Rodas on June 28.

He was arraigned in Middlesex County Superior Court on charges of aggravated rape of a child by force and rape of a child by force on September 4.

According to Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston, officials at Middlesex County Superior Court “ignored ERO Boston’s immigration detainer and released Hernandez-Rodas from custody on an unknown date.”

Officials reported that Hernandez-Rodas had previously served time in prison for prior offenses in Connecticut.

In September 2011 he was convicted of breach of peace in Bridgeport District Court and sentenced to six months in prison, followed by a six-month suspended sentence and one year of probation. In May 2016 he was again convicted of breach of peace in Norwalk District Court, resulting in a $100 fine.

ERO issues immigration detainers against unlawful migrants arrested for crimes and taken into custody by state or local law enforcement.

An immigration detainer is a request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for state or local agencies to inform ICE as soon as possible before a removable noncitizen is released.

Detainers ask state or local law enforcement to keep the noncitizen in custody for no more than 48 hours beyond their scheduled release time, allowing ERO to take over custody for removal according to federal law.

The Hernandez-Rodas case follows that of an illegal migrant who disappeared after serving time for the sexual battery of a young girl and was apprehended by immigration officials.

Carlos Vasquez, a 28-year-old Honduran national, was charged with the rape of an eight-year-old girl in 2017. He was convicted of the lesser charge of sexual battery in 2019 and sentenced to six months in prison, with credit for time served. He was “erroneously” released from custody around that time, according to ICE.

Vasquez was caught by ERO New Orleans at a work site in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, last week.

Meanwhile, three illegal immigrants accused of raping children were among half a dozen alleged sex offenders rounded up by immigration officials on Nantucket in September.

The group, all in the U.S. without authorization, were arrested in a multiday operation by the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations unit in the tony Massachusetts enclave, where the average home is valued at $2.7 million.

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