EXCLUSIVE – A Mexican national with a history of illegal border crossings has been apprehended after being convicted of child abduction and enticement.

Leonardo Ignot-Osto, aged 40, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while held at the Scott County Jail in Illinois on Sunday.

“In Chicago, ICE is focused on apprehending individuals like this—a criminal alien who repeatedly violated U.S. borders and went on to commit vile acts against a child,” stated Emily Covington, ICE’s Assistant Director for Public Affairs.

Authorities confirmed that Ignot-Osto, who has crossed into the U.S. unlawfully at least five times, was recently convicted for child abduction. (Getty Images)

Since 2005, Ignot-Osto has unlawfully entered the United States on at least five occasions, according to ICE.

In 2005 alone, U.S. Border Patrol intercepted him four times, each resulting in his voluntary return to Mexico. He managed to re-enter the country a fifth time before facing his initial criminal charges in the U.S., as reported by authorities.

On April 15, 2025, he was charged in Illinois with abduction, kidnapping a child, and two counts of enticement of a child for indecent purposes, ICE said.

On Sept. 18, he was found guilty of child abduction and luring a child under 17 and sentenced to a year in prison.

“This man is clearly a public safety threat, and if the sanctuary city of Chicago would have turned him over to us after his first conviction in 2010, he wouldn’t have been here to victimize an innocent child,” Covington said. 

Ignot-Osto is currently being held by ICE pending deportation proceedings. 

Immigration authorities have been operating in the Chicago area in an effort to curb crime and deport criminal illegal immigrants, despite heavy push back from local and state officials.