ICE investigation prompts federal judge’s denaturalization of convicted serial child rapist

RALEIGH, N.C. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations officers in Raleigh initiated an investigation that led to the denaturalization of a convicted sex offender.

ERO designed and launched Operation False Haven in late 2019 to identify and target child sexual abusers and other egregious felons who were convicted after naturalizing for offenses they committed and concealed during the naturalization process.

On Dec. 20, 2023, Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Eagles entered an order revoking Gaetan Joseph Helard Lecompte’s U.S. citizenship. The court held that defendant Lecompte, a native of Canada and convicted serial child rapist, illegally procured his U.S. citizenship by fraudulently concealing numerous sexual offenses when he applied for naturalization.

Lecompte was one of many targets identified by analyzing data related to approximately 25,000 registered sex offenders in North Carolina. Because he was discovered after the 10-year statute of limitations had expired, a conventional criminal prosecution wasn’t a legally viable option, so ERO presented the case to Department of Justice’s Office of Immigration Litigation to initiate civil proceedings to revoke his citizenship. ERO collected and compiled evidence, interviewed witnesses, prepared an affidavit to initiate civil proceedings, and shepherded the case to its conclusion with the Department of Justice.

According to court records, on July 17, 2009, Lecompte made a materially false statement under penalty of perjury on his naturalization application. He responded “No” to the question “Have you ever committed a crime or offense for which you were not arrested?” On Oct. 5, 2009, Lecompte was interviewed in person and under oath by a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer. During the interview, Lecompte again testified that he had never committed a crime or offense for which he had not been arrested. On Oct. 29, 2009, Lecompte took the Oath of Allegiance and was granted U.S. citizenship.

On Aug. 1, 2011, in the Superior Court of North Carolina in Forsyth County, Lecompte was convicted of 52 felony offenses, including statutory rape, first degree sex offense with a child, indecent liberties with a child, and dissemination of obscene materials to a minor. Lecompte was sentenced to a life term of imprisonment. He confessed to having committed the offenses against five different child victims between 1991 and 2005. Lecompte was not arrested until after he naturalized, thus immigration officials were unaware of his crimes.

“This case highlights the value of relationships and a shared commitment to foster safety for the communities we serve,” said ERO Atlanta Field Office Director Sean Ervin. “America’s strength and diversity is reflected in the faces of the thousands of ERO employees who have sworn to support and defend this nation every day. ERO will vigorously defend the integrity of our nation’s naturalization process.”

Since its inception, Operation False Haven has evolved from a single judicial district initiative to one that reaches across four. Its scope has broadened beyond naturalization fraud and now encompasses defendants who fraudulently obtain a wide range of immigration benefits. To date, the initiative has produced 57 criminal cases, 29 civil cases, 28 convictions, 18 judicial revocations of citizenship, and eight judicial removal orders against defendants convicted of serial rape, child sexual abuse, incest, sodomy, possession or production of child sexual abuse material, kidnapping, sex trafficking, murder, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, tax fraud, pill mill prescription fraud, embezzlement, aggravated identity theft and elder abuse.

This case was investigated by ERO and prosecuted by the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation Enforcement Unit and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina, with assistance from ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.

For more news and information on how ERO Atlanta carries out its immigration enforcement mission in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, follow us on Twitter @EROAtlanta.

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.gov)