ERO Boston arrests Brazilian national charged with sex crimes against Massachusetts child

BOSTON — Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston apprehended an unlawfully present, 24-year-old Brazilian national charged with five counts of raping a Massachusetts minor. Officers from ERO Boston arrested Warley Neto Aug. 23 at the Dukes County Superior Court in Edgartown.

“Warley Neto allegedly repeatedly assaulted a Massachusetts child and represents a significant threat to the safety of our neighborhoods,” said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. “We are grateful for the cooperation of the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office for prioritizing public safety and allowing Neto’s safe transfer of custody to ERO. Too often local jurisdictions refuse to honor immigration detainers and release dangerous offenders back into the community to reoffend. ERO Boston will continue to apprehend and remove the most egregious noncitizen offenders from New England.”

Neto unlawfully entered the United States near Paso Del Norte, Texas, on March 11, 2018. The following day, USBP served Neto a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge and released him from custody on March 13, 2018.

ERO lodged an immigration detainer against Neto with the Dukes County Jail and House of Correction Feb. 18, 2023, after the Edgartown Police Department arrested Neto for strangulation or suffocation, assault and battery on a family household member, and threat to commit crime.

The Edgartown District Court found Neto guilty On June 8, 2023, of threatening to commit crime, assault and battery family household member, and strangulation or suffocation. The Edgartown District Court sentenced Neto to 364 days in prison but suspended all but 90 days of the sentence.

ERO Boston lodged an immigration detainer against Neto with the Tisbury Police Department following their arrest of Neto Jan. 12 for a warrant related to five counts rape of a child and five counts enticing a minor under 16. These charges were elevated to the Dukes County Superior Court.

The Dukes County Superior Court indicted Neto Jan. 16 for five counts of rape of a child and five counts of entice of child under 16-years-old.

ERO Boston lodged an immigration detainer against Neto Aug. 22 with the Dukes County Jail and House of Correction and the Dukes County Superior Court.

Officers from ERO Boston arrested Neto Aug. 23 at the Dukes County Superior Court after the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office honored ERO’s immigration detainer and transferred custody of Neto to ERO Boston.

As part of its mission to identify and arrest removable noncitizens, ERO lodges immigration detainers against noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity and taken into custody by state or local law enforcement. An immigration detainer is a request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to state or local law enforcement agencies to notify ICE as early as possible before a removable noncitizen is released from their custody. Detainers request that state or local law enforcement agencies maintain custody of the noncitizen for a period not to exceed 48 hours beyond the time the individual would otherwise be released, allowing ERO to assume custody for removal purposes in accordance with federal law.

Detainers are critical public safety tools because they focus enforcement resources on removable noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity. Detainers increase the safety of all parties involved — ERO personnel, law enforcement officials, removable noncitizens and the public — by allowing an arrest to be made in a secure and controlled custodial setting as opposed to at-large within the community. Because detainers result in the direct transfer of a noncitizen from state or local custody to ERO custody, they also minimize the potential that an individual will reoffend. Additionally, detainers conserve scarce government resources by allowing ERO to take criminal noncitizens into custody directly rather than expending resources locating these individuals at-large.

ERO conducts removals of individuals without a lawful basis to remain in the United States, including at the order of immigration judges with Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review. The Executive Office for Immigration Review is a separate entity from the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case, determining if a noncitizen is subject to a final order of removal or eligible for certain forms of relief from removal.

Members of the public with information regarding noncitizen offenders can report crimes or suspicious activity by dialing the ICE Tip Line at 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.

As one of ICE’s three operational directorates, ERO is the principal federal law enforcement authority in charge of domestic immigration enforcement. ERO’s mission is to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine the safety of U.S. communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws, and its primary areas of focus are interior enforcement operations, management of the agency’s detained and non-detained populations, and repatriation of noncitizens who have received final orders of removal. ERO’s workforce consists of more than 7,700 law enforcement and non-law enforcement support personnel across 25 domestic field offices and 208 locations nationwide, 30 overseas postings, and multiple temporary duty travel assignments along the border.

Learn more about ERO Boston’s mission to increase public safety in our New England communities on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @EROBoston.

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