U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has placed a detainer on Abel Kai Gblah, a Liberian national and registered sex offender, following his arrest for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old student at Orangewood Elementary School in Arizona. According to local reports, Gblah allegedly impersonated a doctor to gain access to the child before committing the assault. The victim reported that Gblah told her he needed to perform tests as a doctor and then assaulted her. She managed to escape, after which Gblah fled but was apprehended by police at his home and taken into custody at Maricopa County Jail.
Gblah faces charges including sexual assault, abduction, lewd acts with a minor, and kidnapping with intent to sexually assault. ICE officials stated that after his arrest for child sex crimes in 2021, Gblah should have been marked as a removal priority.
“This monster sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl in her own elementary school. Case in point: if ICE officers were to ever go into an elementary school it would be to arrest a depraved criminal like this,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “The Biden administration failed this innocent little girl. The moment this criminal alien was arrested for child sex crimes in 2021, he should have become a removal priority. The Biden administration should have never allowed this dangerous creep to roam free and terrorize an innocent child.”
Gblah entered the United States in 2011 and received permanent residency under the Obama administration. He has had multiple legal violations since then; he was arrested in 2021 for two counts of sexual conduct with a minor and later convicted. In 2022, he was also convicted of smuggling aliens.
DHS law enforcement continues efforts aimed at protecting communities from similar incidents involving non-citizens who commit serious crimes against U.S. residents. Victims impacted by such crimes can seek assistance through the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office.
