Deported After Child Sex Assault Conviction, Man Arrested In Danbury Admits Illegal Reentry: Feds

DANBURY, CT — A man previously deported after a conviction involving a minor admitted Monday to unlawfully reentering the United States, federal officials said.

Carlos Cabrera-Zaruma, 45, a citizen of Ecuador, pleaded guilty on Monday in New Haven federal court to unlawful reentry of a removed alien, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.

Prosecutors said Cabrera-Zaruma first entered the United States from Mexico in 2000.

Court records show he was later convicted in 2008 in Connecticut Superior Court of sexual assault in the second degree involving a person under 16, along with a separate drunken driving offense.

Following that case, he was removed from the U.S. to Ecuador in September 2010.

Authorities said he later returned to the United States without permission and again lived in Connecticut.

In September 2025, he was taken into custody in Danbury on motor vehicle-related charges, officials said.

Federal authorities arrested him the following month, and he has remained in custody since then.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in Hartford on June 29. The charge carries a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years.

The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations unit and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N. Patel.