Man Posing as Immigration Agent Sought in Series of Sexual Assaults

A man posing as an immigration officer has gained entry into at least 10 El Monte apartments since January, sexually assaulting four women and a 13-year-old girl, police said Wednesday.

Four such incidents have been reported since last week and police believe the man is getting more aggressive. The suspect always flashes a card that appears to be a state of California identification card, asks the victim if her husband is home and then requests to see her immigration papers, said Detective John Fentress.

Fentress said the man tells the victims he must search them for weapons and often fondles them. The man then orders victims to disrobe and starts going through drawers and walking into other rooms, police said.

On Tuesday, the man sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl, police said. The man told her that if she did not cooperate her family would be deported.

On some occasions the man has been scared off by a husband or someone else at the apartments.

Police said the man speaks mostly English and very little Spanish when talking to his victims. He sometimes leaves his victims’ apartments on a red 10-speed bicycle.

Police believe he targets Spanish-speaking women because he does not think they will report him to police. The victims range in age from 13 to 26.

The man is described as either white or a light-skinned Latino between 25 and 35. He is between 5 feet, 10 inches and 6 feet tall and weighs 170 to 200 pounds. He is clean-cut and has blond to light brown hair and hazel or blue eyes.