37-year-old man wanted by authorities in Brazil for raping a child arrested on Martha’s Vineyard

MARTHA'S VINEYARD, Mass. — A 37-year-old undocumented Brazilian sex offender who is wanted in his home country for raping a 5-year-old child has been arrested on Martha’s Vineyard, authorities said.

Saulo Cardoso Ferreira was arrested by deportation officers on Nov. 14 near his residence in West Tisbury.

The Brazilian national is wanted by Brazilian authorities for failure to serve a prison sentence for raping a 5-year-old child, authorities said.

He fled his home country after he was sentenced to 14 years in prison in Brazil, after being convicted for rape of a child in that country, authorities said.

“This undocumented Brazilian national represented a significant threat to the inhabitants of Martha’s Vineyard,” Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons said in a statement. “He sexually assaulted a five-year-old child in his homeland and then ran from authorities when held accountable for his actions. ERO Boston will not allow such predators to threaten our residents. We will continue to apprehend and remove anyone who attempts to use our New England community as a refuge from justice.”

In May 2019, upon the man’s failure to appear for his sentence, the 2nd Criminal Court of Sorriso in the town of Sorriso, Mato Grosso, Brazil, issued a warrant for his arrest.

The undocumented noncitizen unlawfully entered the United States on an unknown date at an unknown location without being inspected or admitted by an immigration official, Lyons said.

Federal authorities learned of the Brazilian national’s presence on Martha’s Vineyard on Sept. 28.

Deportation officers from the Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston’s Fugitive Operations Team South arrested the man during a motor vehicle stop and served him with a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge, Lyons said. He will remain in federal custody pending his removal proceedings.

Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston removes people who are not lawfully allowed to remain in the United States, including at the order of immigration judges with the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, which is a separate entity from the Department of Homeland Security and 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, authorities said.

In fiscal year 2022, Enforcement and Removal Operations arrested 46,396 noncitizens with criminal histories in the U.S.

This group had 198,498 associated charges and convictions, including 21,531 assault offenses; 8,164 sex and sexual assault offenses; 5,554 weapons offenses; 1,501 homicide-related offenses; and 1,114 kidnapping offenses, officials said.

As one of ICE’s three operational directorates, Enforcement and Removal Operations is the principal federal law enforcement authority in charge of domestic immigration enforcement. Its mission is to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of people “who undermine the safety of U.S. communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws,” authorities said.

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.

Enforcement and Removal Operations’ 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.

Members of the public can report crime and suspicious activity by calling 866-347-2423.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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