Border Patrol agents assigned to the Tucson Station apprehended a Guatemalan national Saturday afternoon in the mountains just west of Arivaca after he illegally entered the United States.
While processing 42-year-old Artemio Raul Escobar-Ramirez agents discovered he had been convicted in Tennessee for rape of a child in 2006, and aggravated sexual battery in 2008.
Records indicate Escobar has extensive criminal history in the United States and was previously removed from the country in 2014 after incarceration for his crimes. He will be held in federal custody pending prosecution for criminal immigration violations, and re-entry of an aggravated felon.
All individuals apprehended by the Border Patrol undergo criminal history checks using biometrics to ensure illegal immigrants with criminal histories are positively identified.
Federal law allows agents to charge individuals by complaint, a method that allows the filing of charges for criminal activity without inferring guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless and until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.