LAWRENCE, Mass. (WWLP) - An illegally present Ecuadoran man was arrested in Lawrence at the beginning of April by members of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for over 20 charges of child sexual assault and rape. ICE Boston said that they worked alongside federal partners from th e Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to arrest 64-year-old Gilberto Avila-Jara. Courtesy of ICE Boston. Charging documents stated that Avila illegally entered the U.S. on February 10, 1996, near San Ysidro, California. He was caught by Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) officials on March 2, 1996, at the Los Angeles International Airport. On March 11 during the same year, an immigration judge ordered that Avila be sent back to Ecuador. Mass. man charged with DUI in Vermont after crashing into brick wall On July 2, 1996, the INS returned Avila from the U.S. to Ecuador. He illegally reentered the U.S. on an unknown date and from an unknown location. Avila was arraigned in Lawrence District Court on December 18, 2020, for over 20 offenses, including indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, rape of a child with force, and aggravated statutory rape of a child. Later that day, ICE Boston lodged an immigration detainer with the Lawrence Police Department against Avila, but the Lawrence District Court refused to honor the detainer. Avila was released from custody on bail on March 17, 2021. On April 22, 2021, Avila was arraigned in Essex County Superior Court for six counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, eight counts of rape of a child with force, and eight counts of aggravated statutory rape of a child. On April 1, 2025, ICE Boston, DEA New England agents, and ATF Boston arrested Avila in Lawrence. “There are no appropriate words to describe the amount of damage Gilberto Avila-Jara has allegedly done to our Massachusetts community,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde. “Children are the most precious and most vulnerable members of our communities, and we will do everything in our power to protect them from illegal sex offenders. ICE Boston remains committed to prioritizing public safety by arresting and removing alien sexual predators from New England.” Local News Headlines Undocumented Ecuadoran charged with over 20 child sex crimes in Mass. InFocus: Literacy improvement programs South Hadley police searching for missing cognitively impaired woman Pittsfield to begin street improvement project WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. ...read more read less