Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver told KFVS local police tried to convince federal officials to deport illegal immigrant Jose Reney Aguilar when he was accused of a misdemeanor assault years ago, but they refused.

Instead, Aguilar, 35, stayed in Missouri and later sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl at his previous home near Dexter, police allege.

A tipster reported the crime to a Missouri Children’s Division hotline in December, alleging Aguilar assaulted the girl sometime between March 16, 2014 and March 16, 2015.

The victim, who “appeared to be functioning at a diminished capacity,” told Stoddard County sheriff’s deputies she was assaulted twice in Aguilar’s home, according to court records cited by KFVS.

Aguliar was arrested in Poinsett County last Friday.

“According to Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver, the Stoddard County Justice System and sheriff’s office has tried in the past to coordinate with Federal Immigration officials to deport Aguilar after he was accused of a misdemeanor assault,” KFVS reports.

“Oliver said all of their efforts to deport him were met with refusals by federal officials.

Aguliar’s case is only the most recent in what’s becoming a trend of news coverage on illegal immigrant criminals who have been accused of serious crimes despite previous attempts to deport them. In some cases, federal officials simply refuse, while in others illegal immigrant criminals are repeatedly removed, only to return and commit new crimes.

In February, Pennsylvania police arrested previously deported Mexican national Alfredo Lopez after a concerned motorist called about him “swerving all over” the Danville Pike. Police allegedly found Lopez driving 15 mph in a 45 mph zone with a line of cars behind him with flashers on, PennLive reports.

After failing field sobriety tests, Lopez was taken to the hospital and later confessed to drinking a six pack of Coronas before getting behind the wheel, police allege. Lopez didn’t have a driver’s license, and had previously been charged with eight driving under the influence offenses in Arizona between 2006 and 2010, making the Pennsylvania incident the ninth offense in the last decade.

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump made immigration a key component of his political platform and stirred controversy with remarks about illegal immigrants when he declared his candidacy last summer.

Criminals like Agulair and Lopez illustrate his point.

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” Trump said, according to Real Clear Politics. “They’re sending people that have a lot of problems, and they’re bringing those problems to us.”

The problem, Trump argued, is current U.S. immigration policies make it nearly impossible to track or control the flow of criminals coming into the country illegally.

“It’s coming from more than Mexico. It’s coming from all over South and Latin America, and it’s coming probably … from the Middle East,” Trump said. “But we don’t know. Because we have no protection and we have no competence, we don’t know what’s happening. And it’s got to stop and it’s got to stop fast.”