Suffolk man charged in rape of Huntington teen, ICE lodges detainer
A 59-year-old Salvadoran national was indicted after prosecutors said he raped a 16-year-old in Huntington. ICE later lodged a detainer as Suffolk held him on up to $5 million bail.
Suffolk County prosecutors indicted Aureliano Antonio Melendez Reyes on rape and related charges after he attacked a 16-year-old girl walking home on New York Avenue in Huntington. The assault happened June 6, when Reyes approached the teen, repeatedly asked for her phone number, forced her into an alley and sexually assaulted her.
The girl escaped while partially unclothed, climbed a tall fence and called 911. Reyes continued searching for her until police arrived and arrested him. He was indicted June 16, arraigned before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis and is being held on $500,000 cash bail, $1 million bond or $5 million partially secured bond. If convicted of the top count, he faces up to 25 years in prison and is due back in court July 21.
The district attorney’s office identified Reyes, 59, as a Salvadoran national. Assistant District Attorney Ashley Moruzzi is prosecuting the case, and Detective Jeremy Corcino of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Second Precinct is investigating it.
ICE lodged a detainer against Reyes on or about June 18. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said New York officials should not release him. DHS also said Reyes had been ordered removed from the United States by an immigration judge on July 10, 1998, a final order that had been in place for nearly 28 years before the Huntington arrest.
Suffolk County previously honored ICE detainers, but that practice ended after a 2018 court decision found the sheriff lacked authority to detain people solely on immigration detainers. Suffolk County later challenged related liability over detainers in January 2025.
The Department of Homeland Security counted 6,947 criminal illegal aliens released by New York after failing to honor detainers since Jan. 20, 2025, and 7,113 aliens in New York custody with active detainers as of Dec. 1, 2025.
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