FAIRFAX, Va., July 8 (DC Times Online) — Juan Arevalo Mendez, a Salvadoran national, was charged in Fairfax County with rape and abduction, and the Department of Homeland Security said the case shows Virginia has become a “hotbed of illegal alien crime” under Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
DHS said Arevalo Mendez was arrested in Prince William County last week on rape and abduction with intent to sexually assault charges, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer the same day.
According to DHS, Arevalo Mendez entered the United States legally in 1991, lost that status after a 1998 destruction-of-property conviction, was deported in 2003 and again in 2014, and later returned at an unknown time. The department said his record also includes multiple assault convictions, drug possession, obstructing justice, identity theft and larceny.
A Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, Allyson Conroy, said he remains in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
DHS also said it had identified 17 alleged serious crimes by illegal immigrants in Virginia this year, including nine in Fairfax County.
