Convicted child rapist was in U.S. illegally

DAYTON–Jose Guadalupe Flores-Hernandez, who pleaded guilty to two counts of rape of a child and one count of child molestation and was sentenced April 1 in Columbia County Superior Court, is a Mexican national and was residing in the United States illegally at the time of the offense, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Public Affairs Officer/Spokesperson Tanya Roman.

Flores-Hernandez, also known as Gerrado Avila-Hernandez, is a citizen of Mexico and in the United States illegally, Roman informed the Dayton Chronicle on April 10.

“On an unknown date and location, Flores-Hernandez illegally entered the U.S. without being inspected, admitted or paroled by an immigration official,” Roman said. “On Sept. 30, 2007, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office in Bend, Ore., arrested Flores-Hernandez for failure to present a valid operator’s license. On Oct. 2, 2007, Flores-Hernandez was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and placed into removal proceedings. On Oct. 16, 2007, an immigration judge in Seattle, Wash., ordered Flores-Hernandez removed from the U.S. and on Oct. 20, 2007, Flores-Hernandez was removed to Mexico. He illegally reentered the U.S. on an unknown date and location.

“On Oct. 30, 2019, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office arrested Flores-Hernandez in Dayton, Washington and charged him with two counts of rape of a child and child molestation. On Nov. 7, ERO lodged an immigration detainer with the Columbia County Jail. On March 3, Columbia County Superior Court convicted Flores-Hernandez of the child rape and molestation charges and sentenced him to 18 years confinement,” Roman said.

Any aliens processed for removal may receive their legal due process from federal immigration judges in the immigration courts, which are administered by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), Roman said. EOIR is an agency within the U.S. Department of Justice and is separate from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICE. Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case. ICE officers carry out the removal decisions made by the federal immigration judges.