WARRANTED CONCERN

ICE Goons Risk Jeopardizing Piano Teacher’s Child Rape Prosecution

A federal judge has raised the alarm about ICE agents who searched a suspected abuser’s devices without a warrant.

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DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s ICE agents have plunged the prosecution of a suspected serial child rapist into jeopardy. Piano instructor Joshua Wexler, 47, has been indicted on charges of sexually abusing kids as young as four—including during lessons when their parents were nearby. But the conduct of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) risks jeopardizing the case against him. In an Oct. 5 ruling reviewed by the Daily Beast’s sister Substack, PunchUp, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres questioned how federal immigration agents handled evidence seized from Wexler at his home in New York. That included asking why they had passed information extracted from his three phones and two laptops to local police before investigators obtained a search warrant and without providing an inventory of the devices. The agents then transferred the confiscated devices to authorities in Louisiana, where Wexler was alleged to have committed the acts, despite express instructions from government lawyers not to, according to the court. Torres, an Obama appointee, said: “The Government’s submission recounts actions by a federal law enforcement agency which contravene and undermine the constitutional and legal constraints on its conduct.” The judge said the government’s continued failure to produce the relevant warrant and inventory would “compel the conclusion” that the agents had “acted unlawfully and unconstitutionally”. Torres demanded that the government produce the warrants and supporting paperwork authorizing the seizure and search by October 19, warning that she would otherwise order the devices and their extracted contents returned to Wexler. Her ruling does not mean the charges against Wexler will be dismissed or the evidence excluded from his Louisiana prosecution. The court has also not ruled that the agents’ conduct has permanently damaged the prosecution. An ICE spokesperson said the agency does not comment on ongoing investigations.

Tom Latchem exposes the secrets, scandals, and stories that powerful people and institutions want to keep under wraps. Follow all of his reporting at PunchUp on Substack.

Tom LatchemLead Global Correspondent

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