Brazilian Fugitive Wanted For Child Rape Who Fled To U.S. On Tourist Visa Is Deported By ICE

OAN’s Elizabeth Bolbelding
3:40pm – Monday, March 4, 2024

A Brazilian national who entered the United States on a tourist visa to avoid a prison sentence for child rape was deported to his home country in late January, according to a statement released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). .

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ICE reported Friday that a man convicted of raping a minor entered the United States on a tourist visa. However, he was extradited to Brazil and is currently serving a 12-year sentence.

January 26th^thmore than two months after being detained by ICE agents in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, Edimir Gustavo Eckelberg, 62, was returned to his home country.

Eckelberg, a Brazilian fugitive, managed to evade Brazilian officials and soon boarded a plane bound for the United States. It was also able to clear customs at New York Airport in April 2023.

November 28th^thIn 2023, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Boston arrested Eckelberg in Tewksbury.

According to ICE, Eckelberg fled Brazil to New York on a tourist immigrant visa in April 2023 after being convicted in a Brazilian criminal court of raping a minor. Nine weeks after she received a notice to appear in U.S. Department of Justice immigration court, Eckelberg was removed from the country.

ICE claimed that Brazilian authorities issued a warrant for his arrest in May 2023 after he failed to appear in court after completing a 12-year term for a child rape conviction.

In November 2023, seven months after being admitted to the United States on a tourist visa, Eckelberg was arrested by ICE agents while trying to hide in Boston. The 62-year-old avoided arrest after failing to appear at his sentencing hearing in May of the same year.

Wanted man held at Boston ERO until January 26th^thwhen he flew back to Brazil.

“There is no crime more abhorrent or alarming than sexual assault of a child,” said Todd Lyons, director of ERO’s Boston field office. “Our New England community is safer without the presence of Edimir Gustavo Eckelberg, who is now in the hands of Brazilian authorities. We will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing them.”

73,822 noncitizens with criminal records were detained by ICE. 2023Of those, 4,390 were charged or convicted in connection with sexual assault.