A MEXICAN illegal immigrant was "f***ed up and thinking dirty" before raping a three-year-old toddler in a McDonald's bathroom, prosecutors have claimed.
Christopher Puente, 34, was arrested in early February after a manhunt in Chicago.
At his bond hearing, Cook County prosecutors said that Puente sexually assaulted the girl in the stall of a McDonald's bathroom in Chicago.
Prosecutors told the court that "the defendant [told cops] he was f***ed up and thinking dirty.
"He was dirty, and didn't want the police looking for him, or catching him.
The court heard how the toddler had cried out to her father, saying “daddy, daddy” while allegedly being attacked.
Chicago's mayor and police have now defended their decision to release Puente in 2019 following an unrelated charge.
Puente was originally released by Chicago authorities in 2019 under the city’s sanctuary status despite Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) telling them to hold the illegal immigrant following his arrest for theft.
Chicago's "Welcoming City Ordinance" protects undocumented immigrants from being held for immigration authorities, unless they have been convicted of a serious crime or being sought on a criminal warrant.
Puente was then arrested in early February, this time for allegedly sexually assaulting a three-year-old.
The Chicago Police Department said in a statement: "The Chicago Police Department remains committed to protecting all Chicago residents regardless of their immigration status.
"Our pledge to restrict ICE access to our information systems and our refusal to cooperate with ICE immigration enforcement measures has not changed."
The city’s mayor Lori Lightfoot also defended the action, saying: "If ICE is complaining, then they should do their job better and they shouldn’t do things that are traumatizing young children.
If ICE is complaining, then they should do their job better and they shouldn’t do things that are traumatizing young children.
“That’s not acceptable, and I was very clear and blunt about that. How is that right?”
Puente, who is homeless and suffers from hearing loss, now faces a charge of predatory criminal sexual assault.
ICE had announced it had lodged a detainer request with Chicago police in June 2019 but it had not been honored.
The rape is alleged to have happened while the toddler's dad was looking after her brother in another stall, after he'd had an accident in the restaurant.
Images of Puente on surveillance footage were circulated through a community alert.
He was later arrested for an unrelated incident – when he was charged with criminal trespass after refusing to leave a local business in River North.
While investigating, officers recognized him as being the man pictured and he was linked to the sexual assault case.
CRIED OUT 'DADDY, DADDY'
Puente is alleged to have confessed to detectives that he put the girl on his lap, sexually assaulted her, and covered her mouth when she began saying "daddy, daddy".
CBS Chicago reports that upon hearing her cries, the girl's dad tried to open the stall – but it was locked.
In desperation, he ended up grabbing hold of the toddler's legs from under the door, and hauling her to safety.
Puente, who has been deported at least once from the US, in 2014, had previously been convicted of burglary, forgery, trespassing and domestic battery, according to the Washington Examiner.
After being deported he tried to get back into the US five days later, claiming to be a citizen and later skipped out on a hearing before an immigration judge.
He was ordered to be deported again in 2017 in absentia, according to ICE.
Robert Guadian, field office director of Chicago enforcement and removal operations, said, “How many more victims must there be before lawmakers realize that sanctuary policies do not protect the innocent?
“Puente should have been in ICE custody last year and removed to his home country. Instead, irresponsible lawmaking allowed him to walk free and prey on our most vulnerable.”
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