BOSTON — A Guatemalan national convicted of molesting a child was arrested by federal agents last week after living freely in Massachusetts for over a year — despite being in the country illegally and registered as a Level 1 sex offender.

Jose Alberto Rojop Cajas, 39, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations team on July 9 in Middleton, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service.

ICE says Cajas illegally entered the United States around 2004. In June 2023, he was convicted in Lynn District Court of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 — one of the most serious child sex offenses under Massachusetts law.

But even after that conviction, Cajas was not deported. He was not detained. He remained in the community for over a year.

He is now in ICE custody pending removal proceedings. But questions remain: why did it take this long?

Massachusetts law limits cooperation between local police and federal immigration authorities. Courts are not required to notify ICE when illegal immigrants are released, even when they’ve been convicted of violent or sexual offenses. Detainers are routinely ignored, and judicial warrants are often not pursued.

Governor Maura Healey has publicly denied that Massachusetts is a sanctuary state. But her administration has backed legislation restricting local cooperation with ICE — and has spent billions of dollars expanding shelter capacity for newly arrived migrants across the state. The message from Beacon Hill has been clear: federal immigration enforcement is not a priority.

This is the result. A convicted child predator, in the country illegally, was allowed to remain in Massachusetts long after he should have been removed. And it only ended when federal agents intervened — more than a year later.

Massachusetts residents are being asked to accept a public safety system that looks the other way. And increasingly, that system is failing.

ICE encourages anyone with information about similar cases or suspicious activity to call 1-866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423).