ICE arrests alleged sex offender Montgomery County released

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says it has located and arrested an alleged child sex offender whom Montgomery County released from custody. Rene Atilio Ramos-Hernandez, 56, has been accused of repeated sexual abuse of a child. ICE had lodged a detainer with Montgomery County, asking that Ramos-Hernandez be held upon his release from jail so that ICE agents could take him into custody for deportation. County officials did not hold him, and he was released into the community, where he remained at-large for several weeks.

ICE agents located Ramos-Hernandez at his workplace in the District, and took him into custody, the agency said in a statement Tuesday. “Our fugitive operations team safely carried out this arrest in the community, but this required additional time and resources when he could have safely been transferred to ICE custody within the secure confines of the Montgomery County Detention Center,” acting Baltimore Field Office Director Francisco Madrigal said.

In their statement, ICE notes that Ramos-Hernandez also has convictions for driving while intoxicated and driving on a suspended license in Fairfax County, and for driving while intoxicated in Montgomery County, Maryland. The agency says he will remain in ICE custody until an immigration judge issues a final order of deportation for him.