The CT store clerk charged was in the country illegally

Federal immigration officials arrested Monir Uddin, 47, as an “unlawfully present” Bangladeshi national, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman John Mohan confirmed Wednesday.

Uddin was working at a Litchfield Citgo gas station/convenience store when three 14-year-old girls complained in January that he kissed, hugged and restrained them, state police said. The New York City resident is facing state charges, including three counts of commercial sexual abuse of a minor, illegal sexual contact with a minor, risk of injury to a child, second-degree unlawful restraint and fourth-degree sexual assault.

“This unlawfully present individual allegedly harmed our Connecticut communities by sexually abusing multiple children,” Todd M. Lyons, director of the Boston Field Office, said in a news release. “ERO Boston will continue to work with our local partners to prioritize the safety of members of our New England communities.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection admitted Uddin in October 2017 “for the purpose of traveling through the country,” the news release said. The agency said he violated the terms of his admission when he remained in the US after November 9.

State police arrested Uddin on April 20 and ICE filed an immigration detention with the state Department of Correction the same day. Federal agents arrested him on April 22 and he was ordered to remain in ICE custody pending a hearing before an immigration judge.

In the arrest warrant for Uddin, state police say troopers responded on Jan. 14 to a complaint about a store clerk nicknamed “Moon,” who was later identified as Uddin. Troopers interviewed three 14-year-old girls who said Uddin took them outside the back of the store, police said. However, when they tried to reenter the store, Uddin blocked the door, the girls told police, before touching, hugging and kissing them, the warrant said.

The girls said they felt “trapped,” police said. One said she tried to get away from Uddin, but he pulled her closer, the warrant says. Uddin made the girls promise not to tell anyone about what happened and then gave them free nicotine vapes before leaving, police said.

“They said they were laughing during most of this interaction because they felt uncomfortable,” state police said. “They also stated that they felt sick immediately afterwards because of what had happened.”

The warrant is heavily redacted, but police said Uddin “had contact with the intimate parts of the three juvenile victims,” ​​restrained them and gave them tobacco products in exchange for sexual conduct.

In an interview with police in February, Uddin said the girls’ allegations were untrue and that they were trying to frame him because he wouldn’t sell them CBD products, police said. He is also accused of illegally selling tobacco to a minor.