An unlawful Honduran migrant has been charged with raping a lady on a preferred 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 line with authorities.
“This is the only stranger rape that we have had in the town in my more than 12 years as chief of police,” stated 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 am heartsick for this victim and outraged that local Fairfax County officials recklessly release violent illegal immigrants who should have been prosecuted and deported,” the Republican instructed The Put up.
“This is a dereliction of their most basic duty to keep people safe. Prioritizing violent illegal immigrants over the safety of Fairfax residents is unacceptable,” he continued — including that Virginia shouldn’t be a sanctuary state.
Officers arrested 31-year-old Denis Humberto Navarette Romero Monday on fees 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Romero was launched from jail simply 4 days previous to his arrest Monday on the Washington and Outdated Dominion Path about 25 miles west of the capital.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 on account of “good behavior,” authorities stated.
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 is disturbing is the number of times this individual has been arrested and released,” she instructed reporters. “He has continued to reoffend and his behavior has escalated to a rape in a very public area.”
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 12 months prior, per police data obtained by the Washington Put up.
However the victims’ dad and mom had been loath to speak with police, and the investigation closed with no fees.
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 lady’s behind at an area restaurant.
Herndon police charged him with felony assault on a regulation enforcement officer, however the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Lawyer downgraded the cost to a misdemeanor assault in change for a responsible plea.
His most up-to-date stint within the slammer was on account 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 kept coming trying to grab my dog. Then he was trying to come after me he was saying stuff. He didn’t speak English and then all of a sudden he started pulling his stuff out,” Pugh instructed the native outlet. “I said ‘there’s Ring cameras all around, you know’ and he didn’t care.”
The pest is now being held on the Fairfax County Grownup Detention Heart as he awaits a preliminary listening to.
Police data present that inconsistent spellings of the suspect’s title in his string of arrests have difficult their efforts to piece collectively his in depth prison previous. At the least three variations of the title 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 worry this stokes in the neighborhood in an area interview.
“It’s frustrating because I tell the community you should feel safe here and I do believe they are safe here, I truly do, but when you have cases like this, I look at this and see some part of the system… if it was all working together, if there was a way to make it work, this never would have happened,” the chief stated, including that no single social gathering to the method is accountable.
Gov. Youngkin stated the silver lining is that the insurance policies that allowed Navarette Romero to run amok in the neighborhood received’t fly come 2025.
“When President Trump takes office, the political posturing will end and localities will cooperate with ICE to protect Virginians,” Youngkin stated.
