PHILADELPHIA — Federal immigration authorities arrested a 56-year-old Salvadoran national in Pottstown on July 27, days after Montgomery County officials released him from custody despite an ICE detainer and pending child sex crime charges.
Oscar Adalberto Penate, who claims to have entered the U.S. illegally through Texas in 1998, was arrested by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Philadelphia, Homeland Security Investigations Philadelphia, and the IRS.
“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. “I am just glad we got him before he could harm another.”
Penate was arrested July 22 by Pottstown Township Police on multiple charges, including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a minor under 16, indecent assault of a child under 13, and corruption of minors. These charges remain pending.
Montgomery County Correctional Facility released Penate without notifying ICE due to its sanctuary policies, according to federal officials.
Penate has a prior criminal conviction in Texas, where he pleaded guilty to resisting arrest in 2001 following his arrest by Houston police.