Des Moines, IA – A task force of federal, state, and local law
enforcement officers in Des Moines arrested a man wanted by Alabama
authorities for allegedly sexually abusing a child. The U.S.
Marshals-led Southern Iowa Fugitive Task Force located the man, Kenil
Leonel Iriarte-Banegas, 21, in the 900 block of E. Hull Ave. just after
3:00 p.m. today and arrested him without incident.
On January 4, 2021, investigators with the Shelby
County, Alabama Sheriff’s Office obtained an arrest warrant and charged
Iriarte-Banegas with two counts of rape in the first degree, two counts
of electronic socitation of a child, and two counts of sexual extortion.
The charges resulted from an investigation into allegations that
Iriarte-Banegas forcibly raped a minor and then sent electronic messages
of a sexual nature to the minor following the incident. It is further
alleged that Iriarte-Banegas sent electronic messages to the minor
threatening the minor and the minor’s family if they reported the abuse.
Iriarte-Banegas was booked into the Polk County
Jail and is awaiting extradition back to Alabama.
The Southern Iowa Fugitive Task Force (SIFTF) is
a team of law enforcement officers led by U.S. Marshals in the Southern
District of Iowa. The SIFTF’s objective is to seek out and arrest
violent fugitives and sexual predators on outstanding federal, state,
and local arrest warrants. SIFTF partner agencies include the Polk
County Sheriff’s Office, the Fifth Judicial District Department of
Correctional Services, the Fourth Judicial District Department of
Correctional Services, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the
Department of Homeland Security, the Council Bluffs Police Department,
and the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office.
Additional information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found
at http://www.usmarshals.gov.
####
America’s
First Federal Law Enforcement Agency