El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents arrest convicted sex offender from Guatemala

INDIO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - Agents of the El Centro Sector Border Patrol arrested a convicted sex offender from Guatemala at a Highway 86 checkpoint.

In a press release, the arrest occurred on December 4 at around 11:20pm when a red SUV, containing a driver and a passenger, approached the checkpoint.

Upon inspection, the SUV was sent to secondary inspection after the passenger raised the agents' suspicion, the press release says.

The press release mentions that agents used law enforcement databases to identify the passenger as a Guatemalan citizen who entered the United States illegally.

Arrested and placed into Border Patrol's custody

Not only that, agents did additional background checks and it was revealed that the man was convicted of child rape in Indianapolis back in 2014, which caused him to be deported back to Guatemala in 2017.

The suspect was arrested back in June of this year after he attempted to enter the country illegally "as part of a maritime smuggling event" in San Clemente, according to the press release. As a result, the suspect was sentenced to six months in prison for illegal re-entry of a convicted felon.

"This arrest of an undocumented child rapist represents a prime example of how important our Border Patrol agents are in saving lives and sanity. The Indio Border Patrol agent working the checkpoint that day may have well prevented harm to another child. Lord have mercy, but I stay up thinking about things like this. Good job to our Border Patrol agent."

Gregory Bovino, El Centro Sector Chief Patrol Agent

After background checks were complete, the suspect was arrested and placed into Border Patrol's custody, and will be sent back to Guatemala. The driver and SUV were released.