Julianito De Jesus Diaz of El Salvador pleaded guilty to lewd behavior with a minor in Boynton Beach.

BOYNTON BEACH — A man who was deported in 2002 after pleading guilty to molesting a child in Boynton Beach was arrested Saturday by U.S. Border Patrol agents near downtown El Paso, Texas, authorities said.

Julianito De Jesus Diaz of El Salvador was arrested on a charge of illegally reentering the country, a federal offense which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Records show that the 42-year-old is being held in the El Paso County Jail.

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De Jesus Diaz, his wife and two children were among a group of 48 whom federal agents stopped Saturday in the Texas border city. His wife and children, also from El Salvador, face being deported as well, authorities said. However, they are not being held in jail while they await their court hearings.

"This is an ongoing situation that Border Patrol Agents face in southern New Mexico and El Paso, Texas: Hundreds of parents and children are being encountered by agents after having faced a dangerous trek north, while convicted criminals attempt to avoid detection by circumventing agents who are occupied detaining large family groups," the Border Patrol authorities said in a news release Tuesday.

Federal authorities say that he was deported in February 2002 back to El Salvador after he pleaded guilty to lewd behavior with a child.

Boynton Beach police arrested De Jesus Diaz in August 2000 on a charge of molesting a child while he lived in the city. Details of that case were not immediately available, although court records show he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of lewd behavior.

De Jesus Diaz was in the Palm Beach County Jail until June 2001, records show. Federal authorities say he served a year in custody and then was deported.

ohitchcock@pbpost.com

@ohitchcock