ICE Places Detainer on Venezuelan Man Charged with Raping Dead Girlfriend's Daughter in Montana

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has filed a detainer with Montana officials to hold Wualter Jesus Travieso Soto, a 29-year-old Venezuelan who entered the country illegally in 2023 and was released.

Soto faces felony charges of sexual intercourse without consent with a child under 16 in Flathead County, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The Flathead County Sheriff's Office opened an investigation in May 2025 after Soto's former girlfriend's sister reported that he had taken custody of her sister's children following the woman's death in a car accident in 2024.

The sister contested guardianship after finding photos and videos of Soto kissing and holding her eldest niece in a romantic manner, the Daily Inter Lake reported.

Once the aunt gained guardianship, the girl told investigators that Soto raped her multiple times, including one incident where he choked her, DHS said.

Authorities arrested Soto on Feb. 1. He remains in jail on $200,000 bail.

"This monster repeatedly raped the child of his dead girlfriend," DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement Thursday. "He would not be in this country in the first place if it weren’t for the Biden Administration’s disastrous catch and release policies that allowed him into our country. ICE is asking officials in Montana to turn this perverted criminal over to ICE custody so that we can get him off our streets and out of our country. With cooperation from our local partners, we will ensure this predator NEVER harms another innocent child."

DHS posted on X that ICE, working with Montana authorities, will ensure the predator never harms another child.

Court records reviewed by Fox News Digital show Soto sought legal guardianship of at least one child after his girlfriend's death in the 2024 crash.