Mexican indicted for illegally being in U.S. after child sex crime charge

U.S. Attorney’s Office – Northern District of Mississippi release

May 29, 2025 – A Mexican citizen was indicted this week by a federal grand jury for his illegal re-entry into the United States.

According to court documents, Filiberto Gonzalez-Tovar, 34, of Ecru, was arrested by the Pontotoc County Sheriff’s Office in August 2024, after the agency investigated a report of a sexual assault of a minor victim.

Following the investigation, Gonzalez-Tovar was charged in state court with two counts of rape.

The Department of Homeland Security determined that Gonzalez-Tovar was previously removed from the United States in 2017, by order of an Immigration Judge. DHS’s investigation led to a criminal indictment for the federal offense of illegal re-entry, due to Gonzalez-Tovar’s unlawful presence in the United States after his removal.

U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner of the Northern District of Mississippi made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Addison is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/​1393746/dl?inline) a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.