Man arrested by local officers, not ICE agents, on sex abuse warrant, police say

POCATELLO — A man wanted on charges of sexual abuse of a minor was arrested in the parking lot of a day care center on Wednesday, in what witnesses worried was an immigration arrest.

Pablo Rodriguez Bautista, 54, was arrested by the Pocatello Police Department Street Crimes Unit in the parking lot of the Idaho State University Early Learning Center.

Police Lt. Josh Hancock said the department issued a press release the day of the arrest because some students who witnessed it mistook the officers for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and called the police.

“We put the press release out as fast as we did so that we could let people know that no, it (wasn’t) ICE; it (was) the police department,” Hancock said. “We made the arrest, and this is why we arrested the person.”

The press release states that the Street Crimes Unit was made aware that a man with an active arrest warrant for lewd and lascivious conduct was in the ISU parking lot on Wednesday.

“The Street Crimes Unit made contact with the subject, who was positively identified and arrested on the active warrant,” the release states.

The release adds that, “No other agencies, including Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE), were present or involved in the arrest.”

Bautista is charged with two counts of sexual abuse of a child and one count of lewd conduct with a minor. The alleged crimes happened in October 2021 against two children, ages 12 and 8 or 9, according to the criminal complaint.

Court documents assert that “witnesses described predatory behavior, including the suspect taking surreptitious photographs of the victim and her friends.”

Both victims disclosed Bautista’s alleged abuse to police in forensic interviews. One child described being inappropriately touched by Bautista, the documents say, and the other described experiencing grooming behaviors, as well as being touched on her breasts and genitals.

Bautista’s charges of sexual abuse come with a potential prison sentence of up to 25 years each. His lewd conduct charge is punishable with up to life in prison. All of the charges potentially carry a $50,000 fine.

Although Bautista is accused of these crimes, it doesn’t necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty in the eyes of the law.

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