Crime & Safety

Man Who Raped 8-Year-Old Also Pleads Guilty to Immigration Charges

The case fueled changes to the federal Secure Communities program last year.

Salvador Portillo Saravia, , on Thursday also pleaded guilty to immigration charges.

Portillo Saravia, 30, a citizen of El Salvador, faces up to two years in prison for illegally re-entering the United States after being deported. He pleaded guilty in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton and will be sentenced on August 31. 

News of the sexual assault and illegal re-entry made waves nationally, after a Washington Post article revealed that Portillo Saravia never should have been in the country in the first place—and by extension, that there were shortcomings with Secure Communities, a federal database that tracks deported immigrants. 

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A member of the MS-13 gang, Portillo Saravia was deported in October 2003, according to court documents. Just one month before the sexual assault, he was arrested in Loudoun County for public intoxication, but was released. Though officials ran his fingerprints through the system, the Post reported, nothing turned up because many people deported in 2005 were not included. On Dec. 26, 2010, Portillo Saravia raped the 8-year-old Centreville girl. 

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After Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th District) pushed the issue, Congress subsequently set aside $5 million to upgrade the Secure Communities database. 

Portillo Saravia was indicted on the illegal reentry charge on Feb. 23, 2012, just days after . He was transferred from state to federal custody on July 12. 

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