Mugshots of illegal aliens who were arrested on allegations of child sex crimes in North Carolina between October 2018 and June 2019.

Illegal Immigrants Drive Child Sex Crime Charges in North Carolina

North Carolina data indicates massive hidden problem nationwide

In North Carolina, during the past 18 months, more than 331 illegal aliens have been charged with 1,172 child rapes and child sexual assaults, according to data collected by an independent researcher.

James Johnson, who tracks the data on his website NCFIRE.info (North Carolinians For Immigration Reform and Enforcement), says he is only able to gather data from 30 of the state’s 100 counties, which means it’s likely the statewide count is significantly higher.

Johnson has tracked rapes and sexual assaults on children by illegal aliens since 2013, using original police reports and calling arresting agencies to verify immigration status. His data doesn’t cover every month, but for the 54 months he has recorded, an average of 34 illegal aliens per month were charged with 151 counts of raping or sexually assaulting a child in North Carolina.

Further, a study shows that only 12 percent of child rapes are reported, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center—meaning the total number could be almost 10 times higher.

“It’s happening in every state—we just happen to be compiling the information. It’s a mess,” Johnson told The Epoch Times.

“The ones that I cannot confirm as being illegal aliens, I do not put in the reports. So, our reports are obviously on the low side every month because we can’t get around to every county, every arrest report, and we can’t verify every one that we come across.”

He said that in the last six years, he has only had to pull three reports off the site due to receiving incorrect information from the arresting agency.

National Issue

No federal database exists publicly for illegal alien crime against children, so it’s difficult to get a handle on the severity of the issue nationally.

But Texas has almost three times the population of North Carolina, and California has almost four times, according to Census estimates.

If the monthly rate of reported child sexual offenses committed by illegal aliens in North Carolina is estimated to be 113 illegal aliens charged with around 503 child sexual crimes, that would put Texas at roughly 330 illegal aliens charged with 1,500 child sex crimes per month, and California at 450 illegal aliens charged with more than 2,000 crimes against children every month.

Many Cases

The crimes listed on the NCFIRE website range from rape to indecent exposure.

In May, Jeremias Rafael Deleon-Sales was arrested in Hanover County and charged with statutory rape of a 4- to 6-year-old child.

Just last month, in Orange County, Reyes Rivera-Zapata was arrested and charged with first-degree kidnapping, two counts of first-degree statutory sex offense, and two counts of indecent liberties with a child.

Ignacio Cortez Macedo was convicted in Mecklenburg County in April of three counts of forcible sex offense on a 13-year-old girl, among other charges.

A man in Guilford County, Miguel Alberto Guerra-alba, was arrested in April and charged with seven counts of first-degree rape by a guardian.

In January, two illegal aliens were charged with rape of a child under 6 years old; another was charged with 60 felonies, 14 counts of rape with an under-15-year-old and 19 counts of crimes against nature; another man was charged with molesting five girls aged between 4 and 12.

The impact of sexual abuse on children is usually lifelong and profound, according to a research report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Sexually abused children often exhibit symptoms including fear, nightmares, post-traumatic stress disorder, withdrawn behavior, neurotic mental illness, cruelty, delinquency, sexually inappropriate behavior, regressive behavior, running away, general problem behaviors, and self-injurious behavior, the report states.

‘A Lot Worse Than What People May Think’

Johnson, a retired electrician, said when he first launched the website, he attempted to record all crimes committed by illegal aliens after he noticed the prevalence.

“It just got to be incredibly difficult and impossible to do. And I wasn’t getting much traction with it as far as our North Carolina legislators were concerned,” he said. “So I started to think, ‘Well, you know what? These child rapes, that’s about as bad as it gets. I can’t think of a worse crime. If this doesn’t get their attention, I don’t know what will.’”

He switched focus in 2013 to sex crimes against children and has spent at least 40 hours a week since on finding and verifying his information.

Every month, Johnson sends out a report to North Carolina legislators and more than 350 media outlets, “and it’s crickets—nothing, nobody.”

Johnson said the problem is a lot worse than what people may think, and he blames the government and media for not highlighting the issue enough.

“If the public knew how much this was actually happening, first of all, they’d be just shocked. And secondly, I think there would be a revolt,” he said.

He said after six years of sifting through arrest records, he has noticed that illegal aliens rape children four times more often than U.S. citizens.

“Just from my observations, this specific crime of child rape, illegal aliens tend to commit child rapes at a rate of four to one, compared to citizens,” Johnson said. He also said more Mexicans are charged with sex crimes against children in North Carolina, which he puts down to there simply being more illegal aliens from Mexico in the state.

“We have a lot of agriculture and farms in North Carolina. And that’s where they initially started coming from,” he said.

Johnson said the goal of documenting the crimes is to put enough pressure on legislators to enforce immigration laws. “Just plain and simply. Immigrants are fine, illegal aliens are not.”

In June, more than 3,100 illegal immigrants were apprehended each day by Border Patrol along the southern border, according to statistics from Customs and Border Protection.

A caravan of around 3,300 individuals that traveled to the U.S.-border from Honduras in January contained at least 860 criminals who had been convicted in the United States, according to ICE data provided to House Oversight and Reform Committee Republican members on May 17.

The individuals’ criminal histories included almost 30 convicted of sexual offenses, 20 convicted of assault or aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two convicted of violence against law enforcement, and one convicted of attempted murder.

Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) said he’s concerned about all threats to the security of children and families in North Carolina, which is partly why he sits on the House Homeland Security Committee.

“The lawlessness that we are seeing at our border, matched with radical calls to abolish our immigration law enforcement agencies is dangerous and threatens all of our communities,” Walker said via email on July 16. “Congress needs to secure the border and fix our immigration system, while calling out Democrats who are completely and irresponsibly absent from those efforts.”

The remainder of North Carolina’s 11 federal representatives and two senators didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Sanctuaries

Six counties in North Carolina have enacted sanctuary policies, which shield illegal aliens from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to the Center for Immigration Studies, which tracks sanctuary jurisdictions nationwide. The counties are Buncombe County, Durham County, Forsyth County, Mecklenburg County, Orange County, and Wake County.

Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough said in February that he won’t honor ICE detainers that request correctional facilities to hold an illegal alien for up to 48 hours longer so ICE can take custody.

Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden goes one step further and also refuses to notify ICE when the jail is releasing an inmate with a detainer. He says ICE still has access to the jail database and can find that out for themselves.

So far, during McFadden’s tenure, three illegal aliens have been released from jail despite ICE placing detainers on them, according to a report released by ICE.

A 40-year-old Guatemalan was arrested and charged in October 2018 for multiple counts of indecent liberties with a child, rape, and other sex offenses. He was released from the Mecklenburg County Jail in Charlotte, North Carolina, in March, despite a detainer from ICE being placed soon after his arrest in 2018. ICE has since tracked him down and detained him.

The jail also arrested a 30-year-old Mexican man for child sex crimes in December 2018 and released him in January, despite an ICE detainer being placed.

A third case occurred in May, when the Mecklenburg County Jail ignored another ICE detainer and released a 19-year-old Honduran man charged with indecent liberties with a child. He is still at large.

A bill that is currently moving through the state legislature aims to require all local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE. However, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has indicated he will veto the bill, HB370, if it gets to his desk.