Sex Offender Sentenced for Illegally Reentering the United States

NORFOLK, Va. – An El Salvadoran national, who was previously convicted of aggravated sexual battery of a minor, was sentenced today to two and a half years in prison for illegally reentering the United States.

“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.”

According to court documents, Ubaldo Adonay Moran-Arevalo, 37, 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 approximately 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.

“ICE continues to prioritize the arrest and removal of those with no lawful claim to the United States who also pose serious public safety threats,” said Lyle A. Boelens, Acting Field Office Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Washington, D.C. “In this case, a child was not even safe in her own home because, not once but twice, an individual illegally entered the United States to further violate our laws and continue his dangerous criminal behavior.”

Moran-Arevalo was not caught, however, until several months later when the victim discovered him hiding under her bed after she had showered and changed for school. She reported his conduct to her middle school guidance counselors, who contacted the police. 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. 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. Although 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. 

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Lyle A. Boelens, Acting Field Office Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Washington, D.C., made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Henry Coke Morgan, Jr. Assistant U.S. Attorney William B. Jackson prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:18-cr-165.