Three of nine men arrested in a Fairfax County, Virginia, child exploitation sting are individuals with illegal immigration status and prior criminal records, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed. All three have since been released on bond, according to officials.
The suspects allegedly traveled to Fairfax County to engage in sexual encounters with minors after communicating with undercover detectives posing as juveniles online, police stated Wednesday.
The three individuals identified are Reyben Leono Sanchez Hernandez, 21, of El Salvador; Wilmer Alexander Aguilar Cruz, 28, of El Salvador; and Henry Adalberto Flores Herrera, 39, DHS reported.
DHS stated that Sanchez Hernandez's past includes a charge of solicitation of prostitution from a minor, in addition to a charge for driving on a suspended license from Fairfax County police. He was apprehended for illegal entry near the Rio Grande Valley in September 2013 and released into the U.S. approximately one month later. An ICE detainer was placed on him in July, but he was released on a $3,000 secured bond.
Aguilar Cruz was apprehended by Border Patrol in Texas in late 2012 and released into the U.S. under the Obama administration about two weeks later, according to DHS. His alleged criminal history includes computer solicitation of a child, indecent liberties, proposed sex acts, sodomy, extortion, and threats to burn. He was arrested in Prince William County, Virginia, in April 2019 on charges of threatening to bomb or burn and making a threat in writing. ICE arrested him days later, and he was released on bond in August 2019. An ICE detainer was placed on him in late July, but he was released on a $3,000 secured bond.
Flores Herrera's documented history includes felony solicitation of prostitution from a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, driving under the influence of alcohol, and a traffic offense, DHS said. ICE placed a detainer on him in mid-July, and he has since been released on a $5,000 secured bond. DHS did not specify how Flores Herrera entered the country.
A DHS spokesperson attributed the release of criminal illegal aliens to immigration policies enacted under the Obama administration, which they claimed allowed millions of unvetted individuals into the U.S. The spokesperson also criticized current immigration policies, stating they have led to an influx of criminal immigrants into communities like Fairfax County. The department urged Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger to increase cooperation with ICE, citing executive orders that allegedly banned state cooperation with ICE and terminated 287(g) agreements during her tenure, which DHS claims has made Virginia a "hotbed of illegal alien crime."