15-Year-Old Girl Sexually Abused in Migrant Caravan Shelter: Police

A minor migrant was reportedly sexually abused by a Honduran man during her stay at a shelter located at Benito Juarez Sports Complex in Tijuana, Mexico.

The 15-year-old girl went to the bathroom and was followed by an individual, of Honduran origin, intent on sexually assaulting her, El Imparcial reported.

The head of the Tijuana City Police, Mario Martinez, confirmed that the Secretariat of Public Security of the City had received the report of an attempted rape at 6:00 p.m. in the shelter.

“An unpleasant situation reported in the morning by the mother of a child, where she mentions that her daughter went to the bathroom and was followed by a person, apparently Honduran. He touched her parts and sexually abused her,” Martinez told El Imparcial.

When the agents arrived, the alleged perpetrator had already fled the place and an operation was set up to locate him, adn40 reported.

The whereabouts of the suspect were still unknown on Nov. 23.

A Central American migrant woman moving toward the United States in hopes of a better life, plays with a child at the Alfa Omega shelter in Mexicali, Baja California State, Mexico, on Nov. 17, 2018. Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images

“With the information we have, we are following up on him. I understand that he left the shelter at 6:00 a.m. in the morning,” Martinez explained.

No one has been arrested for the alleged assault for the time being.

The girl was transferred to the City Victim Care Unit, where she was assisted by medical and psychological staff.

Trump: All Will Stay in Mexico

In recent days, approximately 5,000 Central American migrants arrived in Tijuana, just south of California, after making their way through Mexico via caravan.

Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum declared a humanitarian crisis on Nov. 23 in his border city, which is struggling to accommodate the influx. Most of the migrants are camped inside a sports complex, where they face long wait times for food and bathrooms.

On Nov. 24, President Trump reaffirmed that all migrants in the caravan will “stay in Mexico.”

“Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court. We only will allow those who come into our Country legally. Other than that our very strong policy is Catch and Detain. No ‘Releasing’ into the U.S.,” he tweeted.

“All will stay in Mexico,” he added.

Trump again stated the southern border will be closed when necessary: “If for any reason it becomes necessary, we will CLOSE our Southern Border. There is no way that the United States will, after decades of abuse, put up with this costly and dangerous situation anymore!”

Before Trump’s up-to-date statement on the Twitter, it’s reported that the Trump administration had reached a tentative deal with Mexico’s incoming government to leave all asylum-seekers from south of the border in Mexico while their claims proceed.

The plan, described as Remain in Mexico, is supported by Mexico’s president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the Washington Post reported, citing Mexican officials and senior members of Obrador’s transition team.

“For now, we have agreed to this policy of Remain in Mexico,” Olga Sanchez Cordero, Mexico’s incoming interior minister told Washington Post.

A hand-painted sign on the fence around the sports complex where up to 5,000 migrants are camping out in Tijuana Mexico, on Nov. 24, 2018. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

But Sanchez denied that the incoming government plans to allow asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico, making the picture more complex.

“There is no agreement of any sort between the incoming Mexican government and the U.S. government,” she said in a statement.

Sanchez did not explain in the statement why The Washington Post had quoted her as saying there had been an agreement.

Epoch Times reporter Ileana Alescio and The Associated Press contributed to the report.