An accused child rapist and Dominican national was released out of custody by Philadelphia police, ignoring federal immigration officials’ request to hand over the man.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released a news release describing how 40-year-old Winston Enrique Perez Pilarte, also known as Josue Duran-Cortes, was released by Philadelphia officials back in 2015 after failing to “honor” their detainer on Pilarte.

“After confirming his identity using biometric data, an ICE detainer was lodged against Perez Pilarte while he was detained at the Philadelphia Curran Fromhold Correctional Facility in July 2015,” ICE stated in the release. “On Nov. 25, 2015, Perez Pilarte was released from local custody without being turned over on the ICE detainer.”

Pilarte was arrested and charged by the Philadelphia law enforcement with attempted rape, unlawful sexual contact with a minor, aggravated indecent assault, unlawful restraint, endangering the welfare of a child, corruption of minors, indecent assault, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.

Pilarte’s charges against him are currently pending in a local court.

After investigating and locating Pilarte, federal immigration officials were able to perform an arrest and he now faces a hearing in immigration court.

“Our deportation officers will use every available resource at our disposal to find and arrest these alleged predators,” said Tom Decker, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Philadelphia field office director said in a statement.

“However, one of our best resources to keep these dangerous criminals off of our streets and from committing more crimes is for the Mayor to honor our detainers and requests for notification,” Decker said on the sanctuary city policies. “ICE is hopeful that the Mayor will work with us to keep our community safe.”

Mayors, like Democrat Jim Kennedy, have vowed to keep their sanctuary city policies, despite facing major pushback from President-Elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration and a Republican-controlled Congress, as Breitbart News reported.

Breitbart Texas previously reported that cities like Philadelphia are most likely to soon face a loss of federal grant monies as Louisiana Sen. David Vitter’s (R-La) anti-sanctuary city legislation is expected to gain traction next year.

John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.