An unlawful Honduran migrant has been charged with raping a girl on a well-liked climbing path exterior Washington, DC simply days after he was launched from jail on one other intercourse crime cost — and it’s the primary sexual assault of that sort within the city for greater than a decade, in accordance with authorities.
“That is the one stranger rape that we have now had within the city in my greater than 12 years as chief of police,” mentioned Herndon, Virginia, police chief Maggie DeBoard in a press convention Tuesday.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin slammed native officers for permitting the serial intercourse pest to be launched again into the group — as a substitute of being turned over to ICE and deported.
“I’m heartsick for this sufferer and outraged that native Fairfax County officers recklessly launch violent unlawful immigrants who ought to have been prosecuted and deported,” the Republican instructed The Put up.
“It is a dereliction of their most simple obligation to maintain folks secure. Prioritizing violent unlawful immigrants over the protection of Fairfax residents is unacceptable,” he continued — including that Virginia just isn’t a sanctuary state.
Officers arrested 31-year-old Denis Humberto Navarette Romero Monday on prices of intent to defile and rape.
The suspect is a Honduran nationwide residing within the US illegally, and his rap sheet dates again years, Herndon police say.
Romero was launched from jail simply 4 days previous to his arrest Monday on the Washington and Previous Dominion Path about 25 miles west of the capital.
He was freed on Nov. 14 after serving simply half his 50-day indecent publicity sentence as a consequence of “good conduct,” authorities mentioned.
The sufferer, who cops say didn’t know her attacker earlier than the assault, was on the busy strolling path when he allegedly grabbed her arm, pressured her to the bottom and raped her simply earlier than 9 p.m. Monday.
After a bystander known as for assist, cops arrived to the scene and arrested Romero inside minutes.
DeBoard, the police chief, instructed reporters Romero has a historical past of sexual assaults on the town and the encompassing space.
“What’s disturbing is the variety of instances this particular person has been arrested and launched,” she instructed reporters. “He has continued to reoffend and his conduct has escalated to a rape in a really public space.”
Romero’s intercourse crime spree began in 2018, when Herndon PD obtained a report that the perv fondled a 14-year-old. That triggered a Fairfax County intercourse crimes investigation, which uncovered that he’d additionally uncovered himself to a 10-year-old and 13-year-old the yr prior, per police information obtained by the Washington Put up.
However the victims’ mother and father have been loath to speak with police, and the investigation closed with no prices.
His first arrest got here 4 years later, when he choked a Herndon cop responding to a different one among his deviant acts — this time, smacking a girl’s behind at a neighborhood restaurant.
Herndon police charged him with felony assault on a regulation enforcement officer, however the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Legal professional downgraded the cost to a misdemeanor assault in trade for a responsible plea.
His most up-to-date stint within the slammer was as a consequence of an Oct. 19 indecent publicity incident.
The sufferer, Jennifer Pugh, spoke to Fox 5 DC about his obscene exhibition, which prompted her to file a police report.
“He saved coming attempting to seize my canine. Then he was attempting to come back after me he was saying stuff. He didn’t communicate English after which hastily he began pulling his stuff out,” Pugh instructed the native outlet. “I mentioned ‘there’s Ring cameras throughout, you recognize’ and he didn’t care.”
The pest is now being held on the Fairfax County Grownup Detention Middle as he awaits a preliminary listening to.
Police information present that inconsistent spellings of the suspect’s identify in his string of arrests have sophisticated their efforts to piece collectively his intensive legal previous. A minimum of three variations of the identify have been traced again to the FBI quantity and fingerprints of the suspect cops arrested Monday, the Washington Put up reported.
The Fairfax County Sheriff’s workplace says it notifies ICE every time they arrest an undocumented particular person, however the division’s lawyer instructed The Washington Put up that of the 4 instances Romero has been of their custody they by no means obtained a detainer or warrant from the company.
DeBoard lamented the failure of the justice system and the concern this stokes locally in a neighborhood interview.
“It’s irritating as a result of I inform the group you need to really feel secure right here and I do imagine they’re secure right here, I actually do, however when you have got instances like this, I have a look at this and see some a part of the system… if it was all working collectively, if there was a solution to make it work, this by no means would have occurred,” the chief mentioned, including that no single social gathering to the method is accountable.
Gov. Youngkin mentioned the silver lining is that the insurance policies that allowed Navarette Romero to run amok locally gained’t fly come 2025.
“When President Trump takes workplace, the political posturing will finish and localities will cooperate with ICE to guard Virginians,” Youngkin mentioned.
