Feds Missed Illegal Now Charged With Rape

A much touted federal database failed to detect an illegal immigrant who is now charged with raping an eight-year-old. Police had run the man’s name when he was arrested on a public intoxication charge but released him four weeks before the rape when they got no match, The Washington Post reports.

The man, Salvador Portillo-Saravia, an MS-13 gang member, had been deported in 2003. He was arrested in November in Loudoun County, Va., on public intoxication charges and police ran his name through Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Secure Communities database, received no hits and released him within 12 hours. Police alleged he raped an 8-year-old the day after Christmas and is now being sought by local police and federal marshals, the Post said.

ICE officials said that many people deported before 2005 are not in the database because their information is retained in paper files, a revelation that surprised local authorities. Loudoun Sheriff Stephen Simpson said ICE advertised the program as a way to electronically check all people arrested without the need of additional checks, the Post said.

ICE spokesman Brian Hale said Loudoun should have done a manual check or contacted immigration officials if they had suspicions. The system has so far resulted in the deportation of 58,000 people, the Post said.