Todd Rokita, the attorney general of Indiana, says that the man who was caught a second time for attempted rape in Bloomington is an illegal immigrant and that the Monroe County sheriff refused to hold him until he could be deported.
No one from ICE asked, the sheriff says.
It was revealed by 13News that Manuel Lopez Lopez, 39, was arrested and charged with attempted rape, criminal confinement, and battery causing bodily harm. A woman says he tried to rape her on a walking trail on July 2. This happened just a few months after he took a plea deal in a different case of attempted rape from last summer.
Online court records show that Lopez stayed in jail after being arrested on July 15, 2024, until he made a deal with officials in February 2025.
The attempted rape and sexual battery charges were dropped as part of the plea deal, and Lopez was given time served for criminal confinement. After being sentenced, he was let out of jail.
Rokita says that ICE asked for Lopez to be detained and that Lopez should have been held until federal officials came to get him.
It was proven by ICE that this person is an illegal alien, and the Monroe County Sheriff Department let him back into the Bloomington community after his crimes in 2024, Rokita wrote in the post on X, which used to be Twitter. “Instead of honoring ICE’s detainer request and getting this criminal out of our country entirely, he was released back into the community and has assaulted someone else.”
She also said, “He is back in Monroe County jail now.” Do not make the same mistake. Work with ICE this time to get rid of him! This never should have happened, and we will keep trying to get Sheriff Marté to answer for it.
Ruben Marté, the sheriff of Monroe County, told 13News that ICE only asked that the county let them know before Lopez was freed, which Marté said they did:
Manuel Lopez Lopez accepted a plea deal on February 19, 2025. He was found guilty of a Level 6 Felony-Confinement and given community service. When he got out of jail, the Monroe County Correctional Center did not have an immigration detainer on file for him. The only thing the Correctional Center got from ICE was a “Request for Advance Notification of Release.” This is a form that asks police to let ICE know when a person is free. It says right on the form that it “does not request or authorize that you detain the subject beyond the time that he or she is scheduled to be released from your custody.” That request was carried out, and ICE was told before Lopez was let go.
The Standard Operating Procedure was made by the Sheriff’s Office to follow all rules and constitutional protections. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office believes that the current policy strikes a good balance between our duty to police the law and our duty to protect constitutional rights.
13News has asked Immigration and Customs Enforcement to check out both reports on their own, but as of this article’s publication, we have not heard back.
ICE says that an immigration detainer is a request that a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency hold an illegal immigrant for up to 48 hours after they would usually be released. The agency must let ICE know if they are releasing the immigrant.
ICE’s website says that they usually put people on detention who have been found guilty of the following:
- Burglaries and thefts
- Taken hostage
- Hate crime
- Sexual abuse
- Weapons crimes
- Getting drugs through
- Trafficking people
In an interview with 13News on Thursday, Rokita said, “Lopez is the perfect example of why we need sanctuary city laws in this state and every state.” “We have a guy that was already arrested and convicted, pleaded guilty to violent crime against women and now has done the same thing again.”
Currently being sued by the Monroe County sheriff
Rokita is currently in charge of a case he filed last summer against Monroe County Sheriff Ruben Marté over the county’s policy for holding illegal immigrants, which he says is against Indiana law because it doesn’t allow police to work with federal immigration officials.
On July 2, a judge turned down Sheriff Marté’s request to throw out the case. This happened just a few days after Marté said that MCSO had changed their policy.
A new law in Indiana went into effect on July 1, and Marté said that the new policy “explicitly incorporates the requirements” of that law.
The new law says that after someone has been jailed for a misdemeanor or felony, the sheriff or jail staff must tell ICE if they have a good reason to think that person is here illegally.
In an interview on Thursday, Rokita said he didn’t know about the new policy and hadn’t read the full updated version. He did say, though, that he could end the state’s case if he followed state law.
She said, “A new policy doesn’t mean it’s the right policy.” “A new policy necessarily doesn’t mean a compliant policy.”
Rokita also said that ICE might ask to hold Lopez in this new case.
Online court records show that Lopez will be back in court on July 17 for a hearing to review his bail.
