Deported man faces child rape, molestation charges

A man who was deported to Mexico for his role in a child abuse case that cost taxpayers $2.4 million is back in a local jail.

Angel Sanchez Soto, 33, of Parker was arraigned Friday in Yakima County Superior Court on charges of first-degree child rape and child molestation. He is accused of molesting two girls, now 8 and 10 years old, back in 2005.

That was the same year that Soto, a farm worker, was arrested and charged with assault for his role in a separate abuse case that earned his wife, Angela Elba Soto, nine years in prison for nearly beating their daughter to death at their Fair Avenue home.

That attack spawned a lawsuit on the girl's behalf against the state Department of Social Health Services for negligence. The girl was born with cocaine in her system and had been taken from her parents' home shortly after her birth. But she was returned two years later and left without adequate follow-ups despite clear-cut evidence that her parents were still abusing drugs.

Last year, DSHS settled the lawsuit for $2.4 million. Documents that were filed in the case said the beating left the girl with permanent and disabling neurological injuries. She is now living with a foster family in the Lower Valley.

The lawsuit was filed by Bellingham, Wash., lawyer Tim Farris, a critic of Washington's foster-care system who has repeatedly sued DSHS on behalf of injured children.

Angel Soto also was charged with assaulting his daughter, who told police he routinely beat her with a belt and tied her down to her bed. In a deal in January 2006, he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of third-degree assault and was sentenced to time served.

Lorie Dankers, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Soto was deported 11 days after his 2006 assault convictions.

She said Soto is being held without bail in the Yakima County Jail on a new immigration violation charge and could face prosecution in federal court -- and possibly prison time -- for illegal reentry.

In recent years federal authorities have stepped up deportations of criminals and are reportedly taking more aggressive steps to identify foreign-born inmates in jails.

According to published reports, ICE reported 7,345 people have been deported from the three-state region of Washington, Oregon and Alaska so far this year -- a 40 percent increase from the same time last year.

* Chris Bristol can be reached at 577-7748 or cbristol@yakimaherald.com.