BOSTON — Essex County Sheriff Kevin Coppinger is trading barbs again with federal immigration officials after a migrant accused of raping a child was released from state custody despite being sought for deportation proceedings.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it arrested a Colombian national charged with the rape and indecent assault and battery of a minor over the age of 14. The suspect, who wasn’t identified, was bailed out from the Middleton jail on Feb. 17, less than an hour before ICE agents arrived to take him into custody.
“This unlawfully present Colombian national stands accused of a horrific crime,” Todd M. Lyons, ICE’s Boston field office director, said in a statement. “There are few crimes more disturbing than the sexual assault of a child, and no person more disturbing than one who would prey upon the most innocent members of our communities.”
The man, who wasn’t identified by ICE, was arrested in July 2022 after he unlawfully entered the US, according to the agency. He was given a notice to appear before a federal immigration judge, and released.
On Jan. 29, Lynn police arrested the man for rape and indecent assault battery on a minor under 14, according to ICE’s account, which said he was arraigned on the charges in Lynn District Court.
ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations office in Boston said it filed a detainer for the man in Lynn District Court, but claimed the Essex County Sheriff’s Office “failed to honor” the arrest order and released the man from state custody on Feb. 17, “despite the pending sex charges against a minor.”
The man was rearrested by ICE agents on March 28 near his Lynn residence and taken into federal custody, where he will remain pending deportation proceedings, the agency said.
But Coppinger is defending his office’s handling of the situation, issuing a statement detailing how sheriff’s deputies notified ICE agents that the suspect was in custody but he was bailed out less than hour after they made the call to the Boston office of ERO, or Enforcement and Removal Operations, a division of ICE.
Coppinger noted that a 2017 state Supreme Judicial Court ruling — which effectively made Massachusetts a “sanctuary” state — prevents local law enforcement from keeping someone in custody for an immigration detainer “beyond the time that the individual would otherwise be entitled to be released from custody.”
“We appreciate our law enforcement partners as we all strive for the same goal — to keep our communities safe,” said Coppinger, a former Lynn police chief. “Public safety for all those who live, work, and/or travel through our county is and has always been our top priority. We not only enforce the law, but we are also mandated to operate within the law.”
The back-and-forth over the suspect’s release follows a similar dispute over the release of other migrants sought by federal immigration agents for criminal offenses.
Two weeks ago, Coppinger disputed claims by ICE’s Boston office which had claimed that his office had refused to honor an immigration detainer for a Guatemalan man living in the U.S. illegally who was accused of sexually assaulting children.
In that case, ICE arrested a 33-year-old Guatemalan man in Lynn who is facing “myriad” charges stemming from several arrests over the past two years, including sex crimes against minor victims.
But ICE later walked back the claim, releasing an updated press release stating that “due to a reporting error” the agency “erroneously reported” that the sheriff’s office refused the detainer. The agency clarified that it was the Lynn District Court that didn’t honor the detainer and ordered the man released.
Massachusetts is wrestling with an influx of tens of thousands of asylum seekers, prompting Gov. Maura Healey to declare a state of emergency, set limits on the state’s emergency housing system and divert hundreds of millions of dollars to providing housing, food and other necessities for the new arrivals.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com