NORFOLK, Va. — A man from El Salvador, who was previously convicted of aggravated sexual battery of a minor, was sentenced on Tuesday to two and a half years in prison for illegally reentering the United States.
Court documents said 37-year-old Ubaldo Adonay Moran-Arevalo was found in the United States illegally in 2005 and placed into removal proceedings.
After Moran-Arevelo failed to show up to the hearing, the immigration judge issued an order of removal. For about three years, Moran-Arevalo evaded deportation. While the removal order was pending, he sexually abused a 12-year-old who shared a residence with him, according to court documents.
Moran-Arevalo was not caught until several months later when the victim discovered him hiding under her bed after she had showered and changed for school. She reported him to her middle school guidance counselors, who contacted the police.
“Moran-Arevalo has shown total disregard our country’s laws and borders,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Previously, Moran-Arevalo sexually abused a minor victim while he was evading deportation, then quickly reentered the United States illegally and committed more crimes that put the safety of our communities at risk.”
Federal authorities found him after he was arrested, charged, and convicted of an aggravated felony for aggravated sexual battery of a victim less than 13 years old. Moran-Arevalo served only a year in jail and received a five-year probation sentence.
Court documents said he was removed at taxpayer expense in 2009 after finishing his jail sentence.
Within a year of his removal and while on probation, Moran-Arevalo illegally reentered the United States, eventually returning to live at the residence where he had sexually abused the minor victim. Court documents said the victim and her family had moved out, there were multiple other children living in the residence.
Federal authorities found Moran-Arevalo again in 2018 after he had been arrested and charged for driving while intoxicated and driving without a license. He was convicted of those charges shortly before entering federal custody.
