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WASHINGTON (7News) — A man who police say is in the United States
illegally is accused of raping a woman on what was thought to be a safe
and family-friendly trail in Herndon, Va.

WJLA learned the man was arrested multiple times before the rape and local
and federal officials have allowed him to stay in the Washington, D.C.- Virginia area time, and time again.

On Nov. 18, a woman was walking home when a man grabbed her and pulled her behind the bushes at the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail in
Herndon and raped her, according to court documents.

Police said 31-year-old Denis Humberto Navarette Romero raped the woman
and he’s in the U.S. illegally.

RELATED | Man arrested in Herndon for sexually attacking a woman on W&OD
Trail: Police

Police said the attack happened on the trail between Ferndale Avenue and
Grace Street shortly before 9 p.m. when a passerby called 911 to report a
woman who had been raped.

“We haven't had a stranger rape in over 12 years that I've been here as
chief,” Herndon Police Chief Maggie DeBoard told WJLA “There should be
full prosecution, so this never happens again."

According to court documents, Navarette Romero is unemployed and receives public assistance.

According to court documents and documents obtained by WJLA through a
public records request, Navarette Romero has been accused of several
crimes in the past, including sex crimes in D.C., resisting arrest in D.C.
and Virginia --- he’s been accused of assaults, battery, trespassing,
using a stolen vehicle, weapon violations, drinking and smoking marijuana
in public, loitering, and incident exposure.

“Now we've determined that there was an allegation made in 2017 involving
him with sexual type battery against several juveniles,” DeBoard told
WJLA.

That’s not all.

“He had two felonies from cases we had where we were called, dispatched to investigate a sexual battery, basically where he had grabbed a female and
when we went to investigate the case, we encountered the individual then
and he assaulted two of my police officers,” said DeBoard. “One he
actually grabbed around the throat, tried to choke him. So he was charged
with two assaults on a police officer, felonies.”

“And was he convicted of two felonies?” Minock asked DeBoard.

“No because a couple months later, that case was reduced to simple
assault, misdemeanor,” DeBoard answered. “We weren't asked to provide
input on that. You know, my officers were victims in that case. We would
hope that victims would be asked about their input on this, and we
certainly wouldn't have agreed to have that reduced to a misdemeanor.”

The police chief is hoping he will be held accountable and serve time for
the rape police said he committed.

“The problem with deporting him right now would be there is a strong
chance that he could end up back in this country again,” said DeBoard.
“The danger is, if he's not held accountable for his crimes here, and he's simply deported, we would have no way to keep him from coming back into
the country.”

DeBoard also encourages residents in Herndon who are not in the U.S.
legally to call her office if they are a victim of a crime or have
information about a crime in their community.

“My job as a police chief here is to protect everyone in this community,
that includes people that may not be here legally,” said DeBoard. “And
part of the problem that we have is, how do I protect that group, that
migrant group that may not be here if they don't report to us? So part of
the messaging here is we don't want anybody to feel unsafe here, and that includes the community that may be undocumented here, so it's important to
know that we will not turn them over to ICE if they're calling for help.
We would never do that. Our goal is to get people out of the community who
are preying on anyone here in town, and we can't do that without
cooperation. So I'm hoping that they will trust us.”'

An ERO Washington, D.C. Spokesperson told 7News: “U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations interviewed Denis Humberto Navarrete-Romero, 31, an unlawfully present Honduran national,
Nov. 26. On the same day, ICE ERO lodged an immigration detainer with
Fairfax County Adult Detention Center in Fairfax, Virginia. Navarrete
entered the United States on an unknown date at an unknown location and
without admission by an immigration official.”

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is calling on Fairfax County
leaders to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and
share immigration information with federal authorities about criminals who
are in Fairfax County.

"This is an outrageous act of violence that came to Herndon, in one of our charming areas of the Commonwealth," Miyares told 7News. "I've been to the Washington and Old Dominion Trail. It's a beautiful area. It's commonly
used by families and from those of young and old. The idea that this unspeakable act of violence that happened right there that so many
Virginians use, I just find unconscionable. This needs to end, and it
breaks down when you have local leaders that decide they're not going to cooperate with federal authorities. They're playing politics with people's safety.”

7News has asked Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano,
Fairfax County Chair Jeff McKay, and Sheriff Stacey Kincaid for interviews multiple times to ask them questions about the sanctuary county policies
they have implemented. They have not yet agreed to an interview on that
topic.

Miyares hopes last week’s rape on the W&OD Trail is a wake-up call for
local elected officials.

"It's absolutely senseless," said Miyares. "This person was in our country
and was able to harm others when he had a prior criminal history, some of
which were violent acts, and this person still was in our country and was
able to commit this unspeakable crime. It is simply unjustified and inexcusable.”

https://wjla.com/news/local/virginia-crime-herndon-virginia-man-arrest- repeat-offender-sexual-assault-rape-case-denis-humberto-navarette-romero- united-states-immigration-deportation-ice-illegal-immigrant-migrant- washington-old-dominion-railroad-trail-investigation

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