A convicted baby molester from Liberia was charged with naturalization fraud after federal prosecutors revealed he lied about his legal historical past with the intention to change into a U.S. citizen.
Again in August, the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Japanese District of North Carolina announced {that a} federal grand jury had indicted 71-year-old Cyril Domaquik Clemens.
Born in Liberia, Clemens allegedly concealed his lengthy file of sexual abuse from immigration authorities, permitting him to naturalize in 2021 earlier than his crimes got here to gentle.
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In response to court docket paperwork, Clemens made knowingly false statements below oath throughout his naturalization course of.
When requested on his utility and in interviews with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Companies (USCIS) whether or not he had ever engaged in forcing sexual contact or dedicated a criminal offense for which he had not been arrested, Clemens answered “No.”
He later took the oath of citizenship on February 19, 2021.
Lower than two years later, Clemens’ previous caught up with him.
On April 3, 2023, within the Superior Courtroom of North Carolina in Durham County, he pleaded guilty to 3 counts of indecent liberties with a baby.
Prosecutors mentioned Clemens molested the sufferer for over a decade, starting when the kid was simply 4 years previous. The abuse continued till March 2022.
He was sentenced to 16 to 29 months in jail and ordered to register as a intercourse offender.
On the time Clemens naturalized, immigration officers have been unaware of his legal conduct as a result of he had not but been arrested.
Prosecutors now argue that his lies in the course of the citizenship course of quantity to fraud. He has been charged in a three-count indictment, every carrying extreme penalties.
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If convicted, Clemens faces as much as 30 years in federal jail and can automatically lose his U.S. citizenship.
The case is a part of “Operation False Haven,” a federal initiative designed to focus on baby predators and severe felons who exploit the immigration system to acquire citizenship.
ICE Enforcement and Removing Operations (ERO) and Homeland Safety Investigations (HSI) brokers are conducting the investigation, with assist from USCIS’s Fraud Detection and Nationwide Safety Division.
Assistant U.S. Lawyer Lori Warlick is prosecuting the case.
Performing U.S. Lawyer Daniel P. Bubar underscored the seriousness of the fees, noting that naturalization fraud undermines the integrity of the immigration system and permits harmful criminals to cover in plain sight.
If profitable, this prosecution won’t solely strip Clemens of his citizenship but in addition ship a transparent message: the USA won’t tolerate predators utilizing lies to realize the privileges of American citizenship.
