The Washington Times
Federal agents have charged a Peekskill, N.Y., man with smuggling a 15-year-old girl from Ecuador into the United States for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with her.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesman Dean Boyd yesterday said Jesse Wayne Clark, 26, was arrested this week at his home, where agents took the girl into custody along with two other minor children, who later were identified as the teenager's daughters.
Mr. Boyd said all three were turned over to the Department of Social Services.
According to a criminal complaint, an ICE investigation began on June 16, 2003, after Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at Newark International Airport conducted an inspection of Mr. Clark when he arrived on a flight from Panama.
The complaint said the CBP inspectors found Mr. Clark in possession of two Ecuadorian passports issued to the teenage girl.
Mr. Boyd said the CBP inspectors also found journals in his possession that contained instructions on how to smuggle persons across the Southwestern border, as well as Mr. Clark's intention to bribe immigration officials at Newark airport, and details of Mr. Clark's violent sexual acts with the teenage girl.
According to the complaint, Mr. Clark told CBP inspectors he ultimately sought to bring the teenager back to the United States because she was pregnant with his child.
The complaint accused Mr. Clark of traveling to Ecuador on Jan. 28 by way of Newark airport and later returning to the United States with the teenager by smuggling her across the Southwestern border.
Posted by Suzanne at September 4, 2004