An illegal alien with a long criminal history is accused of raping a woman on a jogging trail in the town of Herndon, Virginia, just four days after he was released from Fairfax County Jail.
Denis Humberto Navarette Romero, a 31-year-old illegal alien from Honduras, was arrested last week by the Herndon Police Department and charged with raping a woman on the Washington & Old Dominion Trail where he had exposed himself to another woman in October.
At the time of the rape, Romero had only been out of Fairfax County Jail for a total of four days, having been locked up for indecent exposure and sentenced to 50 days.
In that case, Romero approached Jennifer Pugh on the trail and attempted to grab her dog. Pugh said Romero started trying to come after her, speaking only Spanish, before exposing himself to her.
After serving 25 days for the incident, Romero was released back into the community rather than being turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents for deportation.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) said the state is not a sanctuary jurisdiction and called on Fairfax County officials to stop protecting criminal illegal aliens.
“I am heartsick for this victim and outraged that local Fairfax County officials recklessly release violent illegal immigrants who should have been prosecuted and deported,” Youngkin wrote:
This is a dereliction of their most basic duty to keep people safe. Prioritizing violent illegal immigrants over the safety of Fairfax residents is unacceptable. Virginia is not a sanctuary state. When President Trump takes office, the political posturing will end, and localities will cooperate with ICE to protect Virginians.
Before the indecent exposure conviction, Romero had a run-in with Herndon police involving sexual abuse of children, according to the Washington Post:
The Herndon Police Department’s first documented interest in him came in 2018, reports released in response to an open-records request show.
The agency received a report that year saying he had fondled a 14-year-old. When a Fairfax County sex crimes detective investigated, the officer was told that Navarette Romero had exposed himself to a 13-year-old and 10-year-old a year before, according to the police report. A parent of those children said the incident went unreported because the family “did not want any problems.” Ultimately, police wrote, their attempts to speak with the people involved were met with resistance. They closed the investigation and Navarette Romero faced no charges.
In June 2022, Romero choked a Herndon Police Department officer who was responding to a report of groping. He was initially charged with felony assault on a law enforcement officer but the charges were lowered to misdemeanor simple assault.
Romero has been homeless, according to police, and suffers from mental illness and substance abuse issues. He worked in the construction industry in Fairfax County and has lived in the area for 11 years.
In one instance, Herndon police found Romero face down in a park and he asked to be deported from the United States so that he could go home.
Romero is being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at
