A convicted child molester from Liberia was charged with naturalization fraud after federal prosecutors revealed he lied about his criminal history in order to become a U.S. citizen.
Back in August, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced that a federal grand jury had indicted 71-year-old Cyril Domaquik Clemens.
Born in Liberia, Clemens allegedly concealed his long record of sexual abuse from immigration authorities, allowing him to naturalize in 2021 before his crimes came to light.
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According to court documents, Clemens made knowingly false statements under oath during his naturalization process.
When asked on his application and in interviews with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) whether he had ever engaged in forcing sexual contact or committed a crime for which he had not been arrested, Clemens answered “No.”
He later took the oath of citizenship on February 19, 2021.
Less than two years later, Clemens’ past caught up with him.
On April 3, 2023, in the Superior Court of North Carolina in Durham County, he pleaded guilty to three counts of indecent liberties with a child.
Prosecutors said Clemens molested the victim for over a decade, beginning when the child was just four years old. The abuse continued until March 2022.
He was sentenced to 16 to 29 months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender.
At the time Clemens naturalized, immigration officials were unaware of his criminal conduct because he had not yet been arrested.
Prosecutors now argue that his lies during the citizenship process amount to fraud. He has been charged in a three-count indictment, each carrying severe penalties.
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If convicted, Clemens faces up to 30 years in federal prison and will automatically lose his U.S. citizenship.
The case is part of “Operation False Haven,” a federal initiative designed to target child predators and serious felons who exploit the immigration system to obtain citizenship.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents are conducting the investigation, with support from USCIS’s Fraud Detection and National Security Division.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Warlick is prosecuting the case.
Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel P. Bubar underscored the seriousness of the charges, noting that naturalization fraud undermines the integrity of the immigration system and allows dangerous criminals to hide in plain sight.
If successful, this prosecution will not only strip Clemens of his citizenship but also send a clear message: the United States will not tolerate predators using lies to gain the privileges of American citizenship.
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