Six immigrants face deportation after sex-related crimes
Facing deportation? They ought to be facing the Death Penalty!
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs ... 023/NEWS07
Six immigrants face deportation after sex-related crimes
By SHAWN COHEN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: December 15, 2006)
WHITE PLAINS - Authorities rounded up six illegal immigrants yesterday with plans to deport them because they were convicted of sex-related offenses.
Three of the men were convicted of sex crimes against 14-year-old girls, while the others victimized adults, including a disabled woman. Several of them are registered sex offenders.
The arrests were the latest in a series ordered by U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials under a program dubbed Operation Predator. Federal authorities, with help from the Westchester County Probation Department, have arrested nearly 100 immigrants while targeting sex offenders for deportation.
"This is now 98 sex offenders since 2003 that have been pulled out of Westchester," said Louis Conte, assistant commissioner of probation. "Obviously, these offenders will not be able to victimize children here again."
The men arrested yesterday morning had already been found guilty and were re-arrested when they reported to the Probation Department in the county courthouse for what they thought would be routine meetings. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and Westchester probation officers were awaiting their arrival, escorting the probationers into a large room where they were handcuffed and informed they faced deportation.
None put up a struggle, and the only complication came when a fire alarm sounded and authorities briefly evacuated them and everyone else from the courthouse before the building was deemed safe.
Those arrested:
Juan Castillo, 24, a Mexican living in New Rochelle, convicted of raping a 14-year-old.
Otmar Coral, 28, a Jamaican living in the Bronx, convicted of raping a disabled adult.
Kenneth Johnson, 45, a Jamaican living in New Rochelle, convicted of sexual misconduct against a 14-year-old.
Jhonny Lupercio, 23, a Peruvian living in New Rochelle, convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl.
Luis Rodriguez, 32, a Peruvian living in White Plains, convicted of unlawful surveillance of a 34-year-old.
Johny Villafuerte-Salas, 42, a Peruvian living in White Plains, convicted of assaulting a 24-year-old.
Reach Shawn Cohen at spcohen@lohud.com or 914-694-5046.