ICED OUT: Sanctuary Release Of Illegal Immigrant ‘Pedophile’ Backfires

Sanctuary authorities in Connecticut released an illegal immigrant charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl and enticing minors online, forcing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to track him down in the community after officials declined to honor a detainer request, The Daily Wire has learned.

Ecuadorian national Christian Espinosa-Sarango, who is in the country illegally, was charged on December 19, 2025, in North Haven, Connecticut, with sexual assault, illegal sexual contact with a child, and enticing minors with a computer, according to the Department of Homeland Security. ICE lodged a detainer request on December 23 with local law enforcement, demanding that they notify federal immigration agents before he’s scheduled for release.

But local authorities did not comply and released him from jail on a $150,000 bond “onto Connecticut’s streets,” DHS said.

Espinosa-Sarango communicated with an undercover agent he believed was the aunt of a 13-year-old girl, according to the New Haven Independent, citing an affidavit. When he found out the girl’s age, he allegedly began asking for photos and sex.

The undercover agent agreed and instructed him to come to a local hotel with condoms and $120, according to the local news outlet.

On December 19, he allegedly arrived at the hotel room with three condoms and $120 cash and was immediately arrested after knocking on the door.

Espinosa-Sarango claimed he went to the hotel to “save” the girl, but said he did not want to contact police until he saw her first, according to the local report.

ICE officers located Espinosa-Sarango on February 13, DHS said, and he allegedly resisted arrest. According to DHS, he attempted to flee in his vehicle and refused to roll down his window, forcing officers to break it to take him into custody.

DHS is blaming Connecticut’s sanctuary policies, arguing that restrictions on cooperation with ICE prevented local authorities from honoring the detainer request and allowed Espinosa-Sarango’s release.

“These are the types of monsters Connecticut sanctuary politicians are releasing from their jails and onto the streets to perpetuate more crimes against children,” Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.

“We need local law enforcement to cooperate with us to get these heinous criminals out of our neighborhoods. Seven of the 10 safest cities in the United States cooperate with ICE. This is a perfect example of why sanctuary policies make Americans less safe. Thankfully, because of our brave ICE agents, Christian Espinosa-Sarango, a pedophile, will never walk American streets again. Sanctuary politicians must stop releasing pedophiles, murderers, rapists, and kidnappers into our neighborhoods,” McLaughlin added.

Lawmakers in Connecticut amended the state’s sanctuary law this year in response to the Trump administration’s mass deportation effort, allowing illegal immigrants to sue local police agencies that communicate with ICE, according to WNPR.

The law was also expanded to allow local officers to comply with ICE if it involves cases of sexual assault, burglary with a firearm, and injury or risk of injury to a child, the report said.