PHILADELPHIA — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested a Salvadoran national charged with multiple child sex crimes after he was released from Montgomery County custody despite an active immigration detainer.
Oscar Adalberto Penate, 56, was taken into custody in Pottstown on Saturday by agents from ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Philadelphia, Homeland Security Investigations Philadelphia, and IRS Philadelphia.
Penate, who claims to have unlawfully entered the U.S. in 1998 through Texas, was arrested July 22 by Pottstown Township Police. He faces multiple charges, including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, indecent assault of a person under 13, corruption of minors, and other offenses. The charges are pending.
ICE said the Montgomery County Correctional Facility released Penate without notifying federal officials, citing the county’s sanctuary policies. A detainer had been issued requesting his transfer into ICE custody.
“If the elected officials in Montgomery County are not going to protect the citizens of the county, we will,” said ERO Philadelphia Field Office Director Brian McShane. “An illegal alien who committed a crime by unlawfully entering the United States, who is then charged with heinous crimes like this, should never be released.”
Penate also has a prior conviction stemming from a 2001 arrest in Houston for resisting arrest, search or transport. He pleaded guilty to that charge.
ICE officials say the recent arrest averted potential further harm and have renewed criticism of local sanctuary policies that prevent cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.