Police in Long Island, New York have charged an illegal immigrant over the alleged rape of a five-year-old girl.
The Nassau County Police Department on Long Island said Friday that its officers arrested Wilson Castillo Diaz, 26, on Oct. 22 over the alleged assault a few days earlier.
Diaz reportedly entered the United States illegally in 2014 and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been informed of his arrest.
“This 27-year-old man did not wake up one day and decide ‘I’m going to rape a five-year-old girl.’ So we believe there may be more victims out there,” Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryan told reporters Friday morning.
Wilson Castillo Diaz is accused of raping a five-year-old girl on Long Island, New York. He entered the United States illegally in 2014, according to the Nassau County Police Department.
Nassau County Police Department
The department said the victim was taken to hospital for a medical evaluation, after the attack on Oct. 16. Further details of the attack have not been given at this time.
Diaz, who lives in Westbury, was charged with rape in the first degree, attempted rape in the first degree and endangering the welfare of a child. He pleaded not guilty to all three charges.
Police said the suspect arrived in the U.S. in April 2014, crossing into the Rio Grande Valley in Texas from Mexico. His nationality was not immediately clear.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) arrested Diaz at the time and he was released pending an immigration hearing. He failed to appear for that hearing, the department said.
Newsweek reached out to ICE for comment via email Friday afternoon.
Nassau County officials said at a briefing Friday that current border policies had allowed this to happen, despite his entry into the country a decade ago.
“As we’ve seen far too many times, these illegal immigrants have come here, committed very, very serious crimes, and it didn’t have to happen,” Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said at Friday’s briefing.
“Nassau County is not a sanctuary county, and for good reason, because we try to keep out illegal migrants who haven’t been vetted,” Blakeman added. “We don’t know who they are. We don’t know where they came from. We don’t know if they have a criminal record.”
ICE frequently issues detainers on illegal immigrants accused of other crimes. They allow the agency to take custody of individuals once local law enforcement releases them.
Diaz was arraigned on Oct. 23 and was being held at the Nassau County Jail, with his bail set at $200,000. Police are asking anyone else who feels they were a victim of Diaz to come forward.
