ICE Boston agents have arrested a sex offender who was recently convicted of child sexual assault after a Massachusetts court reportedly let him go despite federal agents filing an immigration detainer against him.

Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston last week nabbed the unlawfully present 34-year-old citizen of Guatemala in Gloucester. The man was recently convicted locally of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14.

The unlawfully present Guatemalan had been released by Gloucester District Court despite ERO Boston having filed an immigration detainer against him.

“This individual represented a dire threat to the residents of Massachusetts,” ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons said in a statement.

“Unlawfully present, convicted sex offenders should not be given the opportunity to reoffend,” Lyons added. “The victim of his crimes deserves better from our justice system. The men and women of ERO Boston will continue to protect our communities from such threats.”

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The Guatemalan reportedly unlawfully entered the country 13 years ago at an unknown location, and without being inspected or admitted by a U.S. immigration official.

ERO Boston then encountered the Guatemalan national at the Essex County House of Correction, and issued an immigration detainer against him with the facility following his arrest and detention in December.

Then in January, he was convicted of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14, and a separate offense of assault and battery. He was ordered by Gloucester District Court to register as a sex offender with the state sex offender registry.

Meanwhile, the court reportedly ignored ERO Boston’s immigration detainer and released him back into the community.

Deportation officers with ERO Boston last week arrested the Guatemalan national without incident in Gloucester. He will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings before a federal immigration judge with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review.

The arrest was part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s most recent national enforcement effort, which focused on the apprehension of unlawfully present noncitizen sex offenders. ERO officers apprehended 275 unlawfully present noncitizen sex offenders during the nationwide law enforcement effort that took place earlier this month.