A former employee working at two Texas shelters for unaccompanied immigrant children has been charged with several counts of sexual abuse of minors in his custody, the U.S. Department of Justice announced recently.

Rodolfo Alanis, 61, of Harlingen, Texas, was arrested April 20, the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas reported the same day. The defendant appeared in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker April 21, according to the report. 

Alanis was employed as a "youth care worker" with Southwest Key facilities in Brownsville and McAllen, Texas, at the time of the alleged incidents, the report states. Southwest Key operates facilities in three states that temporarily house unaccompanied immigrant children. It operated facilities in McAllen and Brownsville. 

“The migrant children in these facilities are the most vulnerable; they are alone and often do not speak the language,” U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani said in the news release. “We have to entrust them to the care of others while there and as they are transported from point A to point B. As such, my office will seek to hold those accountable who allegedly violate that trust."

Charges unsealed in the three-count federal grand jury indictment allege Alanis "engaged in sexual contact with three minor children who, at the time, were detained and under the custody and authority of Alanis," the release states. "The indictment further alleges the sexual contact occurred on three separate occasions while on board an airplane."

Alanis made his first court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker April 21; he faces up to two years in prison for each count if convicted, the news release reports.

"These allegations are serious and we will follow the case to its end to ensure justice is served overall," Hamdani said in the release, "but especially on behalf of any potential young victim.”

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General, in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laura Garcia and Alexa Parcell.