Honk News (Boston, MA) – A Guatemalan man has been taken into custody by federal authorities after being accused of sexually assaulting a child in a Massachusetts’ laundromat. Officials revealed this week that a Boston court overlooked the immigration detainer issued for him.
Sostenes Perez-Lopez, 59, currently residing in the United States without legal status, faces two charges of indecent assault and battery involving a child under the age of 14. On February 18, federal officers took him into custody in Brighton, following his release on bail in December, as confirmed by a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday.
Perez-Lopez received a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge after being taken into custody by ICE. He is currently held in federal custody.
Sostenes Perez-Lopez faces serious allegations involving a child in Massachusetts’, stated Patricia Hyde, acting Field Office Director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston.
A construction worker from Brighton, Perez-Lopez, faces allegations of sexually assaulting a young girl at the Express Laundromat on Brighton Avenue in Allston last November, as detailed in the police report.
On November 24, 2024, Boston Police received a report from the girl’s mother regarding the alleged sexual assault.
While doing laundry at the laundrette with her daughter on Saturday afternoon, she reported to officers that the girl had wandered away from her side to a table close to the entrance. Later, the mother spotted an unfamiliar man near the girl. The mother drew the girl close to her.
A mother and her daughter were leaving the laundromat when a conversation about “stranger danger” took a troubling turn. According to the police report, the girl revealed that a man had inappropriately touched her.
The girl subsequently informed the authorities that the unidentified man’s hands “entered her pants and made contact with her private area.”
Authorities from the Human Trafficking and Sexual Assault divisions successfully captured a still image of the suspect from surveillance footage recorded within the laundromat. The individual was spotted in a distinctive white hat, a dark jacket, blue denim, and rugged boots.
On November 27, detectives pinpointed Perez-Lopez as the suspect in the case.
According to police reports, Perez-Lopez subsequently entered the Area D-14 police station and requested to speak with investigators. Detectives interviewed him and revealed that he does his laundry at the Express Laundromat in Brighton every Saturday.
On Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, he reported to detectives that he observed a young girl, estimated to be around 5 years old, alone at the laundromat.
He said he stayed in his seat while the mother collected her belongings and left the laundrette with the child.
Authorities have confiscated the laundromat card belonging to Perez-Lopez. Authorities confirmed his arrest was due to statements from witnesses and victims, along with evidence gathered throughout the investigation, as detailed in their report.
On November 28, 2024, following an arrest for indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, ICE filed an immigration detainer against Perez-Lopez with the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department at Nashua Street Jail, according to Hyde.
During his arraignment in Boston Municipal Court in Brighton on Nov. 29, 2024, he entered a plea of not guilty to the charges against him.