U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) revealed Wednesday that a 23-year-old man accused of sexually abusing a resident of a St. Cloud senior center is in the country illegally.
ICE issued an immigration detainer and administrative arrest warrant against Jesus Manzanilla-Alvarado after responding to a call from St. Benedict’s Center where he was employed. Manzanilla-Alvarado later admitted to having sexual contact with a female resident in the home over a period of two weeks.
According to a criminal complaint filed against Manzanilla-Alvarado with the Minnesota Department of Health and obtained by The St. Cloud Times, he spent an “inordinate amount of time with” the woman and was accused of touching her genitals while masturbating.
Manzanilla-Alvarado faces charges of gross misdemeanor mistreatment of residents or patients, and gross misdemeanor criminal sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult by a caregiver. If convicted and sentenced, Manzanilla-Alvarado would likely face deportation after he’s released.
But according to ICE spokesman Shawn Neudauer of the agency’s St. Paul field office, this isn’t the first time Manzanilla-Alvarado has faced criminal charges. In fact, he has a “criminal history” that includes “numerous misdemeanor convictions,” Neudauer told The Minnesota Sun.
One of those convictions seems to include a 2015 arrest for third-degree burglary in Wright County, Minnesota.
“On March 1, 2019, a deportation officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged an immigration detainer and an administrative arrest warrant on Jesus Manzanilla-Alvarado, 23, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the U.S., with the Sherburne County Jail, following his arrest in St. Cloud, Minnesota on felony sexual assault charges,” Neudauer told The Minnesota Sun, noting that Manzanilla-Alvarado currently has DACA status.
An ICE official said that “aliens who received deferred action under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are not categorically targeted for immigration enforcement.”
“ICE typically arrests those who have/had DACA only if the period of deferred action has expired or if DACA has been or will be revoked due to criminal conviction, gang affiliation, or some other violation of the program requirements,” the ICE official elaborated.
CentraCare, the company that owns St. Benedict’s Center, said in a statement to The St. Cloud Times that Manzanilla-Alvarado was immediately terminated upon his arrest.
“Family members of the resident involved in the incident were informed during the investigation and we continue to support them through this process,” CentraCare Director of Communications Wendy Jerde said. “We believe this was an isolated situation. The care and safety of our residents is our most important responsibility and we are deeply sorry this occurred.”
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
