A Brazilian man who was indicted by a Dukes County grand jury on child rape charges has been taken into custody by federal officials. 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) came to the Island on August 23 and arrested Warley Neto at the courthouse in Edgartown. 

The agency said Mr. Neto, 24, was unlawfully in the country, entering the U.S. via Texas in 2018. Mr. Neto appears to have been on Island for some time. He was arrested last year by Edgartown police on charges of strangulation, assault and battery on a family or household member and threat to commit a crime. 

In April, he was sentenced to a year in jail on the charges.

This spring, a grand jury returned indictments against Mr. Neto on five charges of child rape and five charges of enticing a child under 16. He was arraigned in May on the charges.

Further details on the case were not immediately available due to the nature of the alleged crimes.

ICE petitioned the Dukes County Jail to take custody of Mr. Neto last month. In a statement, the agency said it lodges immigration detainers against noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity and taken into custody by state and local law enforcement. 

“Warley Neto allegedly repeatedly assaulted a Massachusetts child and represents a significant threat to the safety of our neighborhoods,” said ICE’s Boston field office director Todd M. Lyons. “We are grateful for the cooperation of the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office for prioritizing public safety and allowing Neto’s safe transfer of custody to ERO.”

Mr. Neto is scheduled to have a pretrial hearing in the superior court case on Oct. 24.