Feds: Man accused of kidnapping, raping child in Lexington came to US illegally 5 times
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- Suspect Jorge Martinez Ulloa arrested in Lexington on multiple child sex and kidnapping charges.
- DHS reports he entered the U.S. undocumented five times and faced prior removal orders.
- ICE placed a detainer; Fayette County Jail holds him on $100,000 bond pending hearings.
A man charged with kidnapping and raping a child at his Lexington apartment came to the U.S. illegally five times before his arrest last weekend, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Jorge Luis Martinez Ulloa, a 31-year-old Honduran man, entered the country illegally four times since first arriving in Laredo, Texas, in 2012, and was deported at least once, according to federal officials. He was arrested Saturday and charged with kidnapping a minor, two counts of first-degree rape of a victim younger than 12, two counts of first-degree sodomy of a victim younger than 12 and two counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a victim younger than 12.
DHS said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed an arrest detainer on Martinez Ulloa one day after his arrest and asked Lexington officials to warn the agency if he is released.
An ICE detainer is a request from the federal agency to hold a suspected undocumented immigrant 48 hours longer than their scheduled release, so DHS can take them into custody.
On Wednesday, DHS officials posted on social media urging Lexington police to keep Martinez Ulloa in custody. DHS said local officials are cooperating with federal authorities. Martinez Ulloa remains lodged in the Fayette County Detention Center on a $100,000 bond, according to jail records.
“We need more cities and states to cooperate with us to help remove sickos like this from our country,” Acting DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a news release.
Martinez Ulloa was deported at least once after arriving in the U.S. in 2012, DHS officials say. He was removed to his native Honduras but returned three times in 10 days in 2021. Federal officials did not say if he was deported or if he left and reentered on his own during that stretch.
He entered the U.S. a fifth time at an unknown location and date, federal officials say, before kidnapping and raping the girl March 28 at his apartment in the 1300 block of Davenport Drive in Lexington.
Police responded Saturday night for a report of a child assault victim at the apartment in the city’s Cardinal Valley neighborhood, near Versailles Road.
According to court documents, the victim was a stranger to Martinez Ulloa. He grabbed her by the arm and neck, trapped her inside his apartment and raped her, according to charging documents. The girl told police the only way out of the apartment was through a window.
Martinez Ulloa was arraigned Monday morning in Fayette District Court. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for April 7.
