Honduran Child Sex Offender Arrested in Michigan 6 Months After Deportation

Border Patrol agents in Detroit, Michigan, arrested a Honduran man after learning he re-entered the United States less than six months after being deported. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers removed the man in June.

Detroit Station Border Patrol agents received information that a Honduran man convicted in a sex crime against a child under the age of 13 years had illegally re-entered the U.S. after being deported. Agents responded to the intelligence provided by a concerned citizen and arrested 51-year-old Juan Dias-Pineda, according to information obtained from Detroit Sector Border Patrol officials.

Detroit Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Robert Simon tweeted a mugshot of the Honduran national following his arrest in White Lake Township, a suburb of Detroit.

A court convicted Dias-Pineda in April 2020 for “criminal sexual conduct with a person under thirteen years old,” officials reported. The report did not disclose the location of the court or where the crime took place.

Following a sentence of 207 days in jail and an order of five years of probation, an immigration judge orders his removal in May. ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers deported the convicted child sex offender to Honduras on June 9, 2021.

“Our streets are safer with the criminal off the streets and out of our community,” Detroit Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Robert B. Simon said in a written statement. “I am extremely proud of the fast and professional work these Agents completed in a small timeframe to remove him from the streets of Michigan.”

Dias-Pineda now faces a federal felony charge of illegal re-entry after removal as a child sex offender. If convicted on the charge, he could face up to 20 years in federal prison.