Justice Department Files Denaturalization Complaint Against Child Sex Offender Who Fraudulently Obtained U.S. Citizenship

On Sept. 24, the Department of Justice filed a civil complaint to revoke the citizenship of Hector Daneri Regalado, who, after naturalizing in 2010, was convicted of Taking Indecent Liberties with a Child within the timeframe in which he was required to establish good moral character to naturalize.

“The allegations in this complaint demonstrate the value the United States places upon both the integrity of its naturalization process and, more importantly, ensuring that criminals – especially child predators – do not game a system designed to prevent such individuals from obtaining the privilege of U.S. citizenship,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.

Pursuant to North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25 (1970), Regalado pled guilty in 2012 to two counts of Taking Indecent Liberties with a Child, in violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14–202.1. According to the prosecution’s proffer, over the course of approximately two years, Regalado regularly sexually abused his victim from the time she was twelve until she was fourteen. The conduct to which he pled occurred in 2007, during the pre-naturalization period during which Defendant was required to demonstrate good moral character.

This is the tenth denaturalization action that the Department has filed since Jan. 20.

This case was investigated as part of Operation False Haven, an ongoing national initiative between the Justice Department and ICE. This case is being prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation, General Litigation and Appeals Section, Affirmative Litigation Unit, with assistance from ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.