ICE nabs migrant in Va. after officials drop child-abduction charges against him: ‘Calamitous hazard'
A criminal migrant who illegally crossed into the US from Honduras was nabbed by ICE agents last week when Virginian authorities abruptly dropped attempted-child-abduction charges against him.
Hyrum Baquedano-Rodriguez, 26, was taken into federal custody Friday — soon after a Fairfax County judge refused to sign off on his guilty-plea deal tied to the June 2023 kiddie-abduction ordeal, with the jurist citing evidence issues.
The doomed deal forced prosecutors to ultimately dismiss the charges against the previously accused flasher and convicted violent thief.
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'Though the court saw fit to drop his most recent charges, Hyrum Baquedano-Rodriguez has been convicted of numerous crimes in Virginia and represents a calamitous hazard to our Virginia residents,' said Russell Hott, director of the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations' Washington, DC, field office, in a statement.
Hyrum Baquedano-Rodriguez, 26, was taken into federal custody Friday after Virginian authorities abruptly dropped attempted-child-abduction charges against him.
I.C.E.
Baquedano-Rodriguez, who already has a lengthy rap sheet in the US, had been accused of trying to snatch a 4-year-old girl from her bed in a violent home invasion.
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He was hit with charges of abduction of a person with intent to defile and burglary: entering a house to murder, rape, after prints found of the little girl's window matched his.
Still, the Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Office dropped the charges late last week after a judge declined to accept a plea deal, which would have seen Baquedano-Rodriguez cop to the crime in exchange for a two-year sentence, NBC4 reported.
Baquedano-Rodriguez, who already has a lengthy rap sheet in the US, had been accused of trying to snatch a 4-year-old girl from her bed in a violent home invasion.
AP
'The allegations in this case are deeply concerning,' a rep for the attorney's office said.
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'Unfortunately, there were multiple evidentiary issues with this case, and when the judge was presented with these facts, she declined to accept the plea agreement, which we viewed as the best opportunity for accountability. We are disappointed in the judge's decision.'
Baquedano-Rodriguez was first nabbed by Border Patrol agents in August 2018 when he illegally crossed into the US near Yuma, Ariz., ICE said.
A federal judge in Arizona eventually released him on an immigration bond in January 2019, which kickstarted his crime spree in the US.
It is unclear what his immigration status was over the years, but in 2021, Baquedano-Rodriguez was arrested and charged with three counts of indecent liberties: expose genitals to child and indecent exposure.
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The next year, he was arrested and convicted in Fairfax County of entering property with intent to damage, petit larceny: less than $1,000 and entering property with intent to damage. He landed an 18-month prison sentence for the crimes.
In 2022, he also was convicted of disorderly conduct and contributing to the delinquency of a minor and sentenced to 12 months behind bars for each crime.
In 2023, the migrant was convicted of entering property with intent to damage and sentenced to 12 months in prison.
That same year, he was charged and convicted in the June 2023 attempted child abduction.
'Every one of his convictions represents another one of our neighbors that Baquedano-Rodriguez has victimized,' Hott said.
After the migrant's arrest over the alleged attempted abduction, an immigration judge ordered he be booted back to his native Honduras.
He remains in ICE custody pending his removal, the feds said.
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'Protecting Virginians has been a top priority of our administration since day one, and it should be a priority for every leader at the federal, state and local level,' Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said.
'That's exactly why the Virginia Homeland Security Task Force is so important. I'm grateful to our law enforcement officers at every level for working hard to keep Virginians and Americans safe, and I'll always stand with them.'
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